Garou Ga Kill
by milk-is-my-drug
Summary: After his final battle against Saitama, Garou got thrown in the world of Akame Ga kill where no hero present, only the corrupts and killers stand above the society.
1. Garou Vs Saitama - epilogue

Garou Vs Saitama - epilogue

Note:

The story starts after Garou was defeated by Saitama at the end of the whole monster association arc which will occur in season 3 of OPM. I won't go through how it went to that point to avoid spoilers ( I read the webcomic ). As for Garou losing to Saitama, this is not a spoiler since it is literally a story about Saitama beating the big bad bosses easily so everyone should already expect this ending.

Enjoy :)

* * *

Garou was heading fast toward the skirts of Z city, he wanted to find a peaceful place to rest and recapture. Despite being heavily wounded and despite all the pain, he moved with a speed that the average human eye couldn't register.

He was running as fast as he could, with each step he felt the pain coursing through his body. The baldy hero did lots of damage to the point where each inch of his body had either a wound or a bruise mark not to mention the internal damage and broken bones.

In a mere few minutes, which seemed like hours for the weakened Garou, he reached to the woods near Z city, he stopped near a lake and sat tiredly. He thought about everything he has done, the efforts he put into becoming the ultimate monster. His rampage and hunt for the heroes, his battle against the various demon and dragon level monsters, his struggle against the top s ranked heroes. He forged his path in blood and efforts to stand at the peak. Yet at the end and after defeating everyone who he considered a worthy prey, he was defeated miserably by unknown baldy man and to add salt to his wounds, the bald man didn't seem trying, he crushed him casually.

Garou walked slowly closer to the lake and looked at his reflection in the water. His hair was bloody red, messy and short instead of being in a two spiky prongs shape, his eyes are now like that of a human with his irises matching his hair colour. His upper body was naked as he didn't have clothes covering it, it was filled with wounds. Wounds that would make ordinary people flinch upon seeing them, but to Garou that didn't matter. He put so much effort to become a monster, and just after he achieved his monster form, he reverted back to being a miserable human.

Back there and before making his escape, Garou nearly gave up on life, almost allowing himself to get killed before his will ignited again. He clenched his fist hard as his reflection was replaced by Bang's sorrowful look and then by Saitama impassive face. He was not willing to admit defeat like this, so what if he lost? Didn't he lose before? Didn't he have to run for his life many times over?

Garou took a deep breath as he looked at the night sky, he wasn't done yet! As long as he breathed, he will stand up again, over and over as many times as it takes. His fighting will ignite again, he wanted to beat the bald hero. Not as a monster-hunting a hero but as a proud martial artist. Garou raised his clenched fist in the air before striking the imaginary image of Saitama on the lake. This punch held the last bit of power Garou had left. His blow caused the water to explode upward as if a ton dropped from dozens of meters to it.

Garou dropped on his knees tiredly, he was struggling to keep his eyes opened. He was too tired and in too much pain to remain standing. And just before his lights went dark completely, he saw a purple light coming from the lake. Garou lost his consciousness.

* * *

Garou woke up slowly, he was still tired and in too much pain. He didn't know how much time he slept, but he knew it must have been a few hours since it was morning already. Garou looked around, his vision still hazy but he could make out the surroundings, he was still near the lake, luckily no hero came after him.

Garou stood up slowly, his first thoughts were to find something to eat. He needed food to recover. At first, he looked toward the lake, he wanted to get some fish for breakfast. But he was disappointed to find the lake had no fish when he got closer, he wondered what kind of a lake that doesn't have fish.

He decided to walk in the forest, to find an animal or fruits to eat. His search didn't take a long time as he found a weird mutant boar with the size of a bear growling dangerously at him.

Garou blinked seeing the weird animal, he said, " This is the first time I see such a disgusting boar, is this some kind of a monster? Maybe someone modified the boar genes?. Well whatever, you will do. Beggars can't choose."

Garou gathered what he had of strength and charged toward the boar, which didn't have time to react before Garou beheading it with his hand. Garou smirked, he mumbled to himself " I do prefer my meat well cooked. Argg! But I'm too hungry and weak to bother cooking it. Fuck ! "

Garou couched down and began devouring the boar, unknown to him the boar walked on a steel wire right before Garou found it.

* * *

At the same time, 2km away from Garou's location. A group of assassins were eating their lunch when one of them stopped suddenly and said to the rest " an intruder just walked on my wires in the east. From the weight, it seems heavier than average men. It seems to be alone."

The group stopped eating, they looked toward their green-haired mate who just spoke then toward a silver-haired woman at the side.

She nodded and said " Good job Lubbock, the intruder might be a mere beast but better safe than sorry. Leone, Bulat and Shelee go with Lubbock to check. If it was a human kill on sight."

" Oh, man! It has to be now when we are eating. I'm killing the bastard regardless if it was a human or a beast " The blonde woman, Leone said as she stood up.

" I will do my best " Shelle, a purple-haired girl with glasses, said before standing up as well.

"Roger, Boss!" Bulat and Lubbock said the same time.

The four of them went out toward the east as fast as they could. A raven haired girl who was devouring her meat stopped and asked " Boss, should I go with them?"

The silver-haired woman shook her head and said " No need Akame, it is only a single target, the four of them more than capable of dealing with anything coming their way. In the end, the four of them together is nearly as powerful as a small army."

an hour later, all the remaining assassins were in the training ground training their new recruit after lunch.

" Tatsumi, raise your sword higher when you are blocking," Akame said as she struck with her wooden sword.

" Got it ! " Tatsumi said as he blocked Akame's strike.

On the side Najenda, the silver-haired boss, along with a pink-haired girl, were watching the training session when a voice rang out.

" We are back ! " Bulat said

" What took you so lo…. " Najenda said as she looked in Bulat direction, only to freeze midway at their sight. The other three assassins looked shocked as well when they saw their friends' state.

There stood Bulat with his head and right shoulder bleeding and carrying unconscious Lubbock on his back. Behind him Shelee with broken glasses and a body full of scratches and bruises supporting Leone who seemed to have her leg broken. The four looked as if they fought an army.

" What happened!" Najenda asked in a shocked tone

" Sorry boss, but we failed !" Leone said with dispirited tone shocking her boss and the rest of her friends.


	2. The Human Monster

The Human Monster

Fifty-five minutes earlier, Lubbock led his friends to the intruder location. When they arrived, they were shocked at what they saw.

A man with blood-red hair crouching down near a dangerous boar beast eating it raw. They couldn't see the body of the man as it was hidden behind the boar corpse, but the head movement and the crunching sounds made it clear as day that he was devouring the boar-like beast. The sight was indeed something they never expected.

On the other side, Garou, who was devouring the boar's meat, looked at the newcomers. He didn't know any of them, but because the three of them were wearing unmatched and unusual costumes meant they were heroes. After all, who besides the heroes would wear armour, Chinese dress with huge scissors or prostitute clothes with a yellow tail?

However, Garou didn't pay them much attention, what could they do to him? Only a few people capable of putting a fight with him at the moment despite his injuries, besides he knew all the top heroes and he doubted that there is another unknown hero like that baldy out there. He continued devouring the meet like a wild beast.

The four saw Garou ignoring them after the first look, he seemed more concerned about eating the raw meat before him. They looked at each other strangely, even if they came here to kill the intruder, the sight still too weird and disgusting to simply ignore it and finish their mission.

"This is disgusting! How can you eat it like this?" Leone spoke loudly, but Garou ignored her.

Seeing Garou no showing any reaction to Leone's words, Lubbock said "He is not even listening, let's finish him and go back."

His words earned him a scary glare from Garou, Garou spoke calmly "So you are here to hunt me down?!". It is not like he is surprised, he already expected heroes will come after him. But a group of nobodies have the guts to hunt him?

The four of them tensed upon hearing his voice, their instincts told them that the man who just spoke is a dangerous monster, especially Leone who her beast side screamed danger, she felt as if her teigu was telling her to escape.

"Did they think you four can possibly take me down? Or you came here on your own" Garou said as the air around him became more and more sinister by the moment.

The four assassins looked wary of the change of the atmosphere, Bulat the giant armoured killer took a breath and said "Who are you exactly?"

Bulat thought he should get some information before fighting, he wanted to know who they are dealing with and make sure none around them to ambush him. The feeling the man gave was like a dangerous wild beast preparing to kill everything in sight.

"Hoh! You don't recognise me?!" Garou asked as he viewed the assassins, he thought about it a little. His looks changed significantly after his transformation to a monster then reverting to being a human.

Garou smirked and said "I'm Garou, the human monster!" as he expected them to panic. However, he was surprised to see them not reacting to his name at all.

"umm… Never heard of you, sorry !" the purple girl said first.

"Don't worry Shelee, I think no one of use heard of him before" Leone added dryly.

Garou blinked hearing their words, his only thoughts were [ the fuck? How come they didn't hear of me before? I have been hunting heroes for a while now ]

Garou was slightly annoyed for those heroes to not know his name, Garou simply told them "Get lost, I don't feel like dealing with you ignorant fools."

The four didn't like Garou tone as Lubbock said "Don't worry, we will just collect your head and be on our way home."

Garou was done with these fools. He stood and walked from behind the boar while wiping the blood from his mouth. The sight of Garou's body surprised the assassins, his upper side was bare naked and filled with wounds and bruises. From the colour of the bruises alone, they could expect Garou to have few broken bones and internal injuries not to mention the dried up blood which meant he bled quite a lot. The four of them wondered if they were in his place, could they stand like he did and talk so calmly, these injuries definitely hurt a lot.

"You can't blame me for what I'm going to do to you, you chose this path. Today, I will make sure you won't forget my name for the rest of your filthy lives" Garou smiled sinisterly as the air around him changed to that of something even the wildest beasts couldn't match. He moved his hands in weird and fast movement, causing a loud sound of cracking bones to come out of his body then he took his marital stance.

The sound of his bones caused the four to flinch slightly, and who wouldn't? All the four prepared to fight, they knew this person is very dangerous despite his injuries and miserable state.

"So who is coming first? The armoured knight, the Chinese with big scissors, the green dwarf or the blonde prostitute ?" Garou asked

His title for Leone pissed her off, she said angrily "I'm not a prostitute !"

"Oh, your clothes more revealing than a prostitute, maybe you are raped victim, so you chose such a costume?" Garou taunted Leone

Leone's anger got the better of her and made her attack Garou head-on, just in a second her fist was in front of Garou's face. Just when she thought it was over, Garou showed his monstrous reflexives and strength as he dodged the punch and countered with own side punch sending Leone toward the tree next to him, she coughed blood as she fell to the ground.

"1 down 3 to go," Garou said with a scary smile. Bulat and the rest widened their eyes at how fast Leone was down. They got entirely serious as they attacked in coordination.

Lubbock threw his knives toward Garou who easily deflected them. Shelee followed right after Lubbock's knives with her massive weapon, Garou used his leg to kick the scissors upward and even though Shelee didn't let go of her weapon, she lost her balance allowing Garou to send a second kick toward her. She tried to block with the scissors but still ended being thrown away by the sheer force of Garou's kick.

Garou didn't have time to relax as he noticed the armoured knight approaching fast from above with his spear pointed toward his face. Garou in a very smooth and trained movement parried the spear to the side and sent a punch toward the armoured knight head causing the helmet to crack slightly as he was sent flying as well.

Lubbock was shocked seeing what just happened, their injured opponent is far more powerful than what he initially expected. But he kept his composure, he immediately pulled the wires, which he attached to knives earlier causing them to tighten around Garou's legs, intending to cut his legs on the spot. He was shocked to realise he was not able to pull strings more and cut him. He ended only restricting Garous movement.

Garou cursed inwardly as he felt the steel wires tightening around his legs, if not for his hazy eyesight he would have noticed the wires earlier. Unluckily, he had no time to deal with it as the armoured knight, and the girl with huge scissors attack him again at the same time.

The two of them cornered Garou as the barged him with their weapons attack while he couldn't move from his place, he still showed them his terrifying skills as he managed to block or their blows while managing to land a few hits on them. Bulat was relatively fine as he wore an armour, but Shelee was slowing down because of the pain resulted by scratches and bruises left by Garou.

As things were already bad for Garou, Leone recovered from her initial knock out and charged angrily toward Garou, she jumped into the air and moved toward him with a fast kick toward the head, he in return smirked. Before Leone's kick managed to land on Garou, he caught her midair and used her body as a weapon to counter the two before him.

Seeing the body of their friend being used as weapon force the two assassins to stop the onslaught which made Garou's smirk widen. He threw the body toward the girl with glasses while used his other hand to push the knight away.

Garou proceeded to free his legs. However, he couldn't release them as a bright light shone blinding him, Garou realised the light came from the girl with the scissors. He wanted to get free, but to his surprise, his right hand was tangled with wires as well. Garou was irritated by this but still could retain the movement of his hand. However, he suddenly felt danger approaching him, he looked around in the range he could with that light blinding him but saw nothing around him. But he realised the knight disappeared, at the same time he felt the danger coming from his behind.

In a nimble and fast move he rotated his body while keeping his legs in the same spot, he felt pain coming from his chest as a wound appeared on it, Garou instantly realised the knight didn't disappear but went invisible and sneaked behind him. Garou used his free left hand to cut the air where the invisible knight, the knight to groan in pain as a trail of blood appeared in the empty air.

The blinding light disappeared as everyone with except of Lubbock were already injured. Lubbock looked around analysing the situation, Bulat was visible again with his shoulder bleeding, Shelee suffered a few scratches and bruises adding her glasses being broken. On the ground, Leone was groaning in pain, her leg was broken in multiple places, Lubbock didn't know when or how Garou did it, nevertheless he looked at Garou who had his chest bleeding and his legs and right hand bounded by his wires.

Garou wasn't pleased by the current situation, if it weren't for his injuries and weekend state, then those heroes would have been taken down long ago.

Garou was about to free himself when he felt a sharp pain in his body, his wounds decided to act in the worst time. He dropped on his knees as he coughed blood.

Seeing this, Lubbock screamed, "Attack him now, he can't move anymore !"

Lubbock and the two who were still able to stand were about to charge toward Garou who in return raised his left hand and clenched it into a fist. Under the sight of the four assassins, Garou punched the ground, causing it to break to huge rocks as the cover of dust blocked their view.

When the dust cleared, Garou was nowhere to be seen. Leone, who was still on the ground, cursed "Fuck !"

"Lubbock!" Shelee screamed, suddenly, earning the attention of Leone and Bulat.

Lubbock was on the ground knocked out, Garou didn't forget to kick one of the rocks toward the green dwarf and knock him out before leaving.


	3. Idiots

Idiots

"So you're telling me, a single injured man who seemed barely standing with his bones most probably broken did this to you? Even more, he managed to retreat with only a wound on his chest, which is not relatively close to endanger his life. Did I miss something?" Najenda coldly said as she looked at the four injured assassins before her.

The four looked dispirited while the rest of the assassins were tending to their wounds. Najenda took one of her cigarettes and blew a few breaths before saying "We have to get all the information about this guy. If he is with the empire, then we have another terrifying foe. His threat level is only below general Esdeath and general Bodu. If you encounter him again, don't engage with him unless you have absolute numeric advantages and being able to neutralise him."

The assassins nodded, hearing their boss order. 

* * *

Garou was resting at the side of a soil road, he was quite pissed because he had to escape from a small fries, but his body felt like it was going to break any moment. He couldn't risk fighting them and the possibility of having a reinforcements at their back. Now here he is leaning on a huge rock at the side of a soil-road like a beggar.

He wanted to follow the road as a road like this will most probably lead to a village near City Z. He needed to find a place to rest and also to figure out his current location. However, he currently was too tired to continue moving. He closed his eyes and began recovering.

Sometime later, he heard the sound of steps approaching him, he opened his eyes and looked toward the source.

"Are you okay?" A brown-haired girl asked with worried face

Garou noted the girl costume, it wasn't your typical cloth but some kind of a mix between a soldier and knight. He also noticed the presence of a small thing similar to a dog walking next to her. He assumed it to be some kind of a robot. The girl first impression, another hero.

He didn't feel like talking with her, he would prefer to stay alone and recover, the last thing he needed was to waste his remaining stamina on this girl. He responded coldly "I'm okay, you can leave."

His tone was rude and seemed like he was giving her an order, but the girl didn't mind it and got closer to him. She batted her chest and said cheerfully "As a soldier of the empire, I have to fight the evil and help those in need. And you are in need."

"Empire's soldier?!" Garou didn't know what she was talking about.

"Oh, you must be from the villages at the skirts, and this is your first time seeing a soldier. That's right citizen, I'm a soldier, protector of justice and helper of the weak"

Garou stared at the girl, who was making her declaration proudly, and the little thing beside her, who seemed to nod at his owner words, as if they were idiots. Garou believed his first impression was wrong, she wasn't a hero, but crazy and most probably a delusional idiot.

"Seryu! As a soldier, you can't run like this, leaving your unit behind." A new voice joined them from behind the girl. A huge man who looked like a criminal walked closer along with a carriage and a group of people who wore the same clothes. [ did someone develop a madness virus !] Garou inwardly thought

"I'm sorry captain Ogre, but I saw a citizen who seemed to be in trouble. I had to move and help" Seryu replied cheerfully.

The man looked toward Garou with his single red eye, he seemed to study Garou. Garou's had a hunch that this guy was nothing but a scum, and usually, he is right about people. Except for the girl, she is just too crazy.

The man looked back at Seryu and said "I admire your sense of justice, but you can't help everyone you see. How do you know he is not a thief or maybe a traitor from the revolutionary army."

The girl gasped and looked toward Garou warily as she asked "Are you evil?"

Garou blinked at them, he was getting more and more confused by the moment. He still replied, "I'm not a thief and have no idea what army you are talking about. But I don't deny that I'm evil, I will beat anyone who annoys me."

The girl looked shocked as she pointed her finger toward him and said with an angry and hurt look "you tricked me !"

Garou looked at the girl intently, he now confirmed it, she is really an idiot. He replied, "First, you are the one who came to me, I didn't ask you. Second, are you people crazy? I still could handle idiots playing heroes but now playing soldiers? Aren't you all too old for this game?"

Seryu got angry and screamed back at him "We are not playing! You are indeed evil, making fun of justice."

"Justice?! Then why are you here in the woods? Shouldn't you be in the cities fighting against criminal and monsters?" Garou responded

"We had a mission in one of the nearby villages, we finished it, and now we are heading back to the capital !" Seryu responded not wanting to lose to Garou.

"Capital? What Capital?" Garou asked, his version of Japan had multiple cities with name from A to Z, but they didn't have a specific capital.

"Naturally, the empire's capital! The biggest city in the empire" Seryu answered the obvious.

Garou was silent for a moment before saying "Never heard of it, do you mean city Z? It is the biggest city as far as I know."

Seryu anger vanished and was replaced with shock "Everyone knows about the capital, how do you not know and what is city Z."

On the side, the soldiers began laughing as Ogre finally joined the talk while laughing himself "I see, you are really not from the revolutionary army. Even they would feel too embarrassed to say they don't know the capital. I wonder which cave you crawled out of hahaha… Seryu don't mind him, in the end, he is just an ignorant idiot playing ruffian to protect himself."

Seryu then looked at Garou weirdly as the later felt uncomfortable by the stares and laughs he was receiving. He didn't like the situation at all. Moreover, the scum looking guy called idiot playinfg ruffian, for a moment he wanted to attack this group.

Ogre then asked him "How did you end up injured like this ?"

Garou replied "I met with a group of bastards who injured me before forcing me to escape. Later on, I hunted a boar monster, and when I was eating it, another group of bastards appeared and attacked me."

Ogre blinked at him then exploded laughing "you tried to eat a danger-beast, their meat is by far one of the most disgusting things to eat. Besides you got attacked by bandits twice. You are really unlucky bastard, they even robbed you of your clothes hahaha."

The rest of the soldiers joined him in his laughing hysteria while Seryu looked at Garou with pity. Then she brightened as if she had figured something important, She said sincerely and cheerfully "I understand why you want to dye yourself evil, you want to scare people as you are afraid of being attacked again. Don't worry, I will protect you !"

Garou's urge to beat the shit out of them was on the rise. Maybe the heroes were not as bad as he thought initially. These crazy idiots are far worse than anything he met.

Seryu then turned to her captain and said "Captain, can we take him with us to the capital? He might die if we left him alone here."

Ogre thought a little then said, "Very well, but if he caused us any trouble, I would kick him out to fend for himself."

"You are coming with us …. What is your name? " Seryu finally realised she didn't know the man name

"You can call me Garou" Garou replied, he didn't care if they heard his name before, they seemed too crazy to even realise it.

Seryu smiled happily as she approached Garou to help him bandage the wounds. Seeing her like this, and seeing the rest having no reaction, he knew he was right. He decided to follow them out of need, once he reaches the city, he will leave this group of madmen.


	4. One Shot

Garou was sitting in the carriage while staring daggers at Seryu, the crazy bitch actually bandaged him till he looked like a mummy. The later in return gave him her angry stare.

The guy she picked up turned out to be a wolf in sheep's clothes. After putting all this effort in helping him treating the wounds, he asked if they had something to eat. She so foolishly took out their food and lay it in front of Garou who ate whole without leaving anything behind. The guy ate food for 5 people in a single meal. What made it worse is that she received the anger of her hungry fellow soldiers and a berated by Ogre. And the ungrateful guy not only didn't try to help her, but he seemed to enjoy the show. Seryu started regretting helping him.

"Hey Seryu, do you have something else to eat?" Garou asked as he wanted to piss Seryu more.

"You ungrateful glutton, we don't have anything else !" Seryu replied angrily

"You still have that little thing next to you, it looks tasty," Garou said eyeing Seryu's pet. The pet sensing Garou hungry gaze hid behind his owner, for some reason, the human before him gave a dreadful feeling.

"You monster, you can't eat Kuro !" Seryu screamed back as she dropped down to hug Kuro protectively as she eyed Garou, who smirked evilly at her, he was not someone who would let others walk on him without biting back.

Ogre on the side laughed along with the rest of the soldiers, he then said "Garou, give Seryu a break, you are already in your thirties. Try acting more dignified."

Garou looked toward Ogre and said, "I'm 18 smart ass."

Ogre and the rest stopped laughing as they stared in shock toward Garou.

"18? You are younger than me ! This can't be true, you must be lying" Seryu said with a shocked face as she dismissed Garou words

"I swear on my pride that I'm 18, happy now ?" Garou said. He didn't like how stunned they are, he doesn't look that old, does he?

"Assuming your words are real, how the fuck did become looking older like this, this can't be natural?" Ogre asked the question in mind of the soldiers under him.

"I train a lot" Garou answered.

"Oh, so you are strong?" Seryu asked

"Probably one of the strongest beings in this world," Garou said arrogantly. Even if he wasn't at the top, he still one of the strongest out there. Moreover, unlike many, his strength is the result of his hard work. Not some kind of extraordinary power they were given or born with.

"It won't harm you if you tried to be a little humbler" Seryu replied, while the rest dismissed his words.

The group continued with Garou and Seryu annoying each other, while the rest laughing at them. Hours later, Seryu screamed happily "The capital, I can see it!"

Garou looked forward and widened his eyes, he could see a massive city with a massive palace at the top of the mountain. His mind short-circuited for a moment before he started thinking violently. What was going on here? This is definitely not Z city, hell it not even any of Japan's cities.

Seryu noticed Garou's surprise, she assumed because it is the first time seeing the capital, so she spoke proudly "The capital is the biggest and most beautiful city in the empire."

Garou face darkened slightly as he asked "Seryu, did you of the words China, America or maybe Asia ?"

Seryu shook her head and replied "never. What are those?"

Garou ignored her and thought about everything since he woke up. The weird animal, the group of heroes, these soldiers and the capital before him. Is he still in his world? He then remembered the light he saw before losing his consciousness last night. Garou was sure that purple light has something to do with all of this.

"Earth Dragons !" A soldier screamed, pulling Garou out from his thoughts.

Garou looked forward, 5 huge monsters were coming from the ground. Garou narrowed his eyes. He didn't recognize these things, and the soldiers knew them, so they are known around here. Garou was 99% sure he wasn't in Japan or even in his world by now.

"Garou stay in the carriage, don't leave it no matter what! We will do our best to stop these things" Seryu said hurriedly before she charged forward with Kuro.

Ogre in the front screamed to his soldiers "Raise your weapon and open fire, kill these bastards. Seryu order Kuro to attack" while he brought his sword out and charged toward one of the monsters.

The soldiers started firing alongside Seryu, who brought out two small machine guns. Kuro, who looked like a little dog, grew larger suddenly. It looked like a huge white muscular bear. His hands disgustingly became enormous, reminding Garou of the S-ranked hero Black Shine but white.

Kuro charged toward one of the beasts and savagely bit the neck. On the other side, Ogre cut down one of the giant monster. In few seconds 2 out of 5 already down. The remaining three charged toward Seryu and soldier who were shooting bullets toward them. Before they could reach them, one of the beasts died because of the shots.

The last two continued their advancement toward the group, The soldiers seeing the approaching beasts ran for their lives except Seryu who continued shooting them, causing another one to die. However, the last one was a few meters away from her, and she was out of ammo.

Seryu seeing the approaching beast closed her eyes surrendering to her face when she heard an explosion in front of her but she felt no pain. She opened her eyes and met with Garous back, who was standing two feet in front of her. His leg resting on top the earth dragon crushed head. The best was killed instantly by crushing his skull.

Garou turned around to face her and said, "Despite being so weak, you have a little courage and so much foolishness. What were you thinking? This thing could have killed you."

Seryu felt a little insulted by being called weak, but she still answered "If I moved you would have died. It is my job as a soldier to protect the citizens."

Garou rolled his eyes at her words "Protect me? I'm stronger than you. Actually, I'm stronger than all of you combined even while I'm injured. Not to mention, I told you I'm strong."

Seryu replied "I thought you were lying to me. Beside Kuro can beat you !"

Garou looked at the huge and said while licking his lips "I don't mind fighting it, but if I win, I want to cook him hehehehe."

Seryu widened her eyes as she jumped in front of Garou trying to hide his sight from Kuro "No! You can't cook Kuro."

Garou smirked evilly making Seryu worries for her dog survival. On the other hand, Ogre was staring at Garou intently. He was surprised by Garou speed and strength, seeing his performance just now, he was sure Garou was far stronger than him. This was his strength while being injured and seemingly tired, Ogre at this point believed Garou could be strong enough to give those elite with teigus a run for their money when he is at his peak.

And if he indeed was that strong, then how strong would he be if he used one himself? This thought terrified him, he might become as strong as generals. He then thought about the empire's strongest general, didn't that woman look for talents to add them to her army? Maybe if he got Garou to become her subordinate, he would receive a grand prize for his work.

While Ogre was thinking on how to use Garou, the later sensed something from Ogre and looked at him, He had no doubt Ogre was planning something for him. So he spoke, "Hey, What are you thinking about? I have a feeling you are plotting something evil here."

"What?! NO! Captain Ogre is the greatest and kindest man that it is. How could you say he is plotting something evil !" Seryu protest protecting her captain and mentor

Garou looked at her as if she was an idiot then pointed at Ogre "The guy looks like a ruffian who work as thief and rapist in dark alleys, and his single eye is adding more to this image. He has one of the ugliest and evilest faces I have ever seen. How can you be so blind?" he then pointed at the dog and said, "Hey Kuro, am I correct?"

Kuro, hearing Garou's words nodded as he didn't want to have trouble with this scary human. He might be a weapon in the shape of a pet, but he still had some emotion and simple thoughts. And both of them warning him of Garou.

Seryu looked at her pet hurt "You traitor! How could you take his side !"

Ogre, on the other hand, was looking at them angrily. He was evil and corrupted, he may not say it loudly, but he knew it, and everyone knew what kind of person he was, and it was not something of importance for him. But now, a dog and a guy, who didn't even know him for more than a few hours, accused him being evil for his looks. He doesn't look that bad, does he?

The soldiers who were listening to Garou and Seryu arguing over their captain face, and how he was twitching in anger made them look at each other awkwardly. One of the bravest soldiers said, "We should continue, let's not waste time here."

Ogre snapped at the soldier "You think my face is a waste of time?"

Garou and Seryu stopped arguing as they stared at Ogre, who was threatening to hunt the poor soldier.


	5. Orphans

At the front gate of the capital, Seryu was looking worried as she said "Where are you going? You don't know anyone here, you don't have money or a place to stay."

Garou replied casually "I'm going to explore the capital and I will be fine, I can handle myself. Besides you guys are too poor to afford even food."

Remembering the food incident, Seryu mood switched instantly as she said "Good luck out there! I hope you find enough food to satisfy your gluttonous self."

Garou didn't look amused by her words, he nodded lightly and said "If I find myself hungry, I will look for you. Your dog seems big enough to be my lunch."

Seryu made distance from him as she hugged her dog "Hell no !"

Garou smirked, he turned around and walked away, at the same time he raised his hand and said "See ya".

"Bye and don't turn evil or I will bring you justice" Seryu reminded the retreating Garou.

Seryu turned to face Ogre as she asked "Sir, will he be alright on his own?"

Ogre looked in the direction of Garou before answering "You saw his strength and speed, he should be fine alone. I would be more worried about those who will cross his path if I were you. Beside…. While he doesn't seem to be a criminal or a traitor, he still gives me a dangerous vibe…. I have no doubt that guy is a true warrior who bathed in blood."

Seryu was surprised by her mentor evaluation, she replied "Although he is very strong, he didn't seem as dangerous as you make him out to be. He is more of an asshole."

Ogre shook his head as he replied, "You are still too green, that not-so-dangerous-asshole could have killed us. And before you say he still has to pass Kuro, He is fast and strong enough to kill us instantly, adding how close we were to him, I'm afraid he would have killed us all without any of us being able to react including you and Kuro. Luckily, he is not an enemy and don't have bad intentions toward us."

Seryu widened her eyes, she didn't think about it that deeply. She looked at her mentor in more worship as she replied "Thanks, teacher, I don't know where I should have been if not for you."

Ogre gave her smiled as he replied "You will learn with time, go back with the rest to the police station. I have a place I need to visit first."

Seryu nodded then left with the rest, as Ogre went on his way.

_

Garou observed his surroundings carefully as he walked through the city, the more he walked, the more surprised he got, the city looked like a city from the middle ages with no technology or electricity. At first, he doubted he was dreaming or someone messing with him but considering how detailed this city is he dismissed such possibilities. That took him back to his purple light guess. It seemed the mysterious purple light had somehow teleported out of city z, even out of his world. He wondered if he could get back to his old world or not. He has to go back to the lake to investigate the source of light.

"Come with us, I promise you will enjoy every bit of it hehehe."

A creepy voice brought Garou out of his thoughts. He looked at his side, Two adults cornering a boy and a girl who looked barely 10 years old. Both kids had blonde hair and blue eyes, they wore torn rags, they were obviously poor. The boy was shielding the girl behind him, protecting her from the two tall men in front of him.

"You don't need to be like this, we are going to show your little sister a nice time" the first man spoke with a lustful smirk.

"That's right, she will experience otherworldly pleasure hehehehe" the second man laughed sinisterly.

The children were shaking in fear, while the girl was tearing the boy tried to look as courageous as he could.

Garou didn't like the site in the slightest, two adults eyeing a little girl lustfully in such a disgusting manner. He noticed that the bystanders who watched from the sides divided into two groups, a group which enjoyed the show while the second showed pity and that's it. No one moved to help the children.

Garou felt disgusted by these people more than the two men themselves. His eyes returned to the two smirking bastards then started walking toward them. As he got closer, he spoke loudly for everyone to hear "Two old disgusting animals hounding two children. In addition to that, a group of filthy crowd watching as if it was a show. I never thought I would see such a disgusting sight on my first day here."

The two men looked over, the first spoke "it is your first day in the capital? Hahahahaha…. you decided to play hero while looking like a mummy. This is really hilarious."

The second man continued, "Do you have any idea what you are messing with? Now drop on your knees and apologies and then we might allow you to have a turn."

The crowd who were enjoying the show earlier started laughing as they knew the end of those who opposite these two, to them Garou deserved the ending he was going to receive. On the other hand, the rest felt pity for Garou, they believed his ignorance will destroy him.

Garou started laughing like a mad man making the two frown. The first man spoke "Bastard, what are you laughing at?"

Garou stopped laughing, but he gave a bloodthirsty smirk "Originally, I planned to castrate the two of you while giving these animals around us a piece of mind. But now, I have changed my mind, I will shred the two of you to pieces, then I will make the rest of these bastards wail" as he pointed toward the crowd.

Garou smirk grew more sinister by the moment as he walked toward the two, who in return froze in fear. Both of them had a terrible feeling about what was going to happen next. Garou really scared them, even the people in the surroundings showed fear. Garou looked downright scary.

The next moment no one realised what had happened, it was hell on the street. The two men who were standing earlier gave a wail of pain as collapsed in a bond of their own blood, their limbs were twisted unnaturally while wounds covering their bodies. On the side, everyone laughed earlier, dropped to the ground. All of them suffered multiple injuries.

Those who didn't laugh remained untouched, but they were terrified after seeing the state of the people. Moreover, they couldn't see what happened. Garou was still standing in his place, while everyone else dropped injured in a very miserable way, especially the two men who started the trouble.

Some of sharper people noticed crack under Garou's foot, these cracks appeared around everyone was injured. A scary thought passed through their minds, Garou was fast enough to hurt so many with no one able to register his movement.

Those who didn't get injured started running away, while Garou looked at children who looked at him with terrified eyes.

Garou said "Why are you still here? You can leave, go back to your home."

The two children didn't ease up hearing his words. Afterall, Garou originally was quite scary and adding his new mummy-like look, he wasn't something children would easily trust or get close to.

However, the boy was brave enough to speak "Sssir, you… w-won't hurt … us?"

Garou moved his arm around, pointing toward the people groaning in their blood all over the place then said "If I wanted to hurt you, you would have been lying alongside them."

The boy gulped in fear while the girl was crying by now. The boy took the girl's hand and was about to leave when he stopped and looked at Garou again. He gathered all the courage he had and said "D-do you fight against…. B-bad people?"

Garou raised his borrows at his words, he could see a weak gleam of hope within the boy's eyes. but he still answered plainly "No."

The boy looked down upon hearing him, he didn't dare to speak anymore. However the girl with him gathered her courage to speak as she had an idea what the boy wanted to ask for "S-sir, we.. we are .. orphans… and we esc..aped the orphanage b-because of-f the manger… he is an evil g-guy…. We-we had to run because of him. P-please …."

"Stop," Garou said coldly making the girl, and the boy flinch.

The girl was crying and showing her hopeless-sad eyes, while the boy also looked desperate without any hopes. Garou could tell they both were terrified of him and to gather your courage and speak to a scary person like himself, showed how much the kids were desperate and suffering. He wasn't a hero to help those in need, but seeing them like that left a bad taste in his mouth. He might be evil and merciless, but he still not on the level where he would attack and harm children or those who couldn't protect themselves unless they deserved it. He was a lesser evil in away.

"Tell me, what did this manager do exactly?" Garou asked the children

The kids looked as if they were given life hearing him, they looked at him with hopeful eyes. The boy said, "H-he steals all the money given to the orphans, make us work, and if we don't do well, we will be punished and sleep without food."

Garou thought 'typical.'

The girl then added "As of late, he brought old people to the orphanage where they raped the children, and some of them suicided. Sob..sob.. My friend was one of them."

Garou narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, while boy added "We heard he wanted to sell my sister for a group of old men to toy with her. So we had to escape."

By this point, Garou's eyes had a dangerous gleam.


	6. Troubles

The two children led Garou toward the orphanage silently, on the way one of both sides spoke, Garou just kept following. On the way, the people were avoiding these three, avoiding Garou to be exact. His looks and the air around him scared everyone in the street.

* * *

" Is he really that strong? " a fat man wearing expensive clothes said

" Yes, sir. He is one of the strongest and fastest people I have ever seen. I'm sure general Esdeath will like such a person in her army " Ogre said

" Very well Ogre, I shall nominate him to general Esdeath when she is back from the north. If he is really that good, I will not forget to give you a hefty reward " The man said

Ogre smiled and left. He headed back toward the police station, thinking about the possible reward he will receive soon. He knew he will not be receiving the whole prize despite being the one who provided the information, he could only blame himself being low in the ranks. Besides a small bite is better than nothing.

Few minutes later, he reached the police station, upon entering it, he saw Seryu walking out of her office. He called for her and said " Did you finish the report on our mission? "

Seryu nodded and said " Yes sir "

Ogre smiled and said, " Good Job " earning a smile from Seryu.

" Captain ! " a soldier came running behind Ogre, Ogre turned around to look.

" The vice-captain took a group of soldiers and went out !" the soldier continued.

" So? " Ogre said, he didn't feel like wasting time with these idiots.

" His two brothers were beaten badly by someone, and he went out for revenge !" The soldier added.

" okay " Ogre dismissed casually, while Seryu from behind frowned and said " These two bastards deserve whatever happened to them. They are evil! They at least, might change their ways."

" I'm afraid it is too late. The attacker crippled their limbs, dug their eyes out and castrated them, in addition to some nasty scars covering their bodies" The soldier added as shivered remembering the scene.

" What ! " Seryu screamed, even Ogre on her side was surprised by this. What did these two idiots did to earn such a treatment?

" They were not the only one to be injured " The soldier added.

" … " Seryu and Ogre didn't speak, the injuries of these two alone are enough to make people shiver, and they weren't the only one?

The soldier continued " other than the two, there was at least 30 citizens injured, not on the same level or even as crippling. But they had all broken bones and wounds covering them. It would take months for them to recover "

Ogre by this point had a bad feeling about this, while Seryu's face turned sinister as she said in a menacing voice " Who did this ?!"

The soldier gulped seeing the change her expression, but he still answered " According to eyewitnesses, it was a tall man bandaged like a mummy."

Seryu got angrier as she screamed " GAROU! WHERE IS HE NOW ?!"

The soldier shivered as he replied with fear " He is heading toward the orphanage in the east district "

Seryu rushed out, leaving everyone behind her. On the other hand, Ogre knew the situation was terrible. He had to fix it fast before it becomes worse. He roared " Get your weapons, we are leaving !"

* * *

" This is the place" the blonde boy told Garou.

Garou looked on the building before him, it felt like it was going to fall any moment. He looked at the kids and said " Walk-in."

The boy and the girl looked at each other before a look of determination appeared in their eyes. They walked inside with Garou right behind them. Just as they entered the building, they met with a skinny man with regular clothes pointing at a young woman who was crying and a group of children hiding behind her.

Behind the skinny man was a group of fat men who each of them wore expensive clothes and gold-coated accessories while laughing at what they were watching.

" I assume you are the orphanage manager ?" Garou spoke, earning the attention of the people inside.

The skinny man looked toward Garou, his eyes didn't linger on him as they shift toward the little girl. The thin man smiled and said, " Ari, you finally came back !"  
The skinny man rubbed his hands together as he said " Gentlemen, this is Ari. I hope she is to your liking."

The fat men eyed her lustfully as they smirked imagining what they are going to do to her. Seeing their action, the boy stood in front of his sister and screamed " I won't let you touch my sister."

The boy protective action and the girl teary scared eyes aroused the men further. Garou remained silent, but he started walking toward the men. The skinny man notice his approach and said " Who are you? Scram before I make you regret it."

Garou didn't reply, he kept walking toward the group causing to feel uneasy. The skinny man continued to give more threats, but all were ignored by Garou. And once he was a foot away from them, he finally stopped and said " You people disgust me to no end. I will make an example out of you."

The next moment Garou throw all of them outside in a very fast and swift movement that none managed to register. He threw them toward the entrance where he and children entered earlier, Garou made sure to throw them high enough so they won't hit the children. He then started walking after them.

The two kids walked to the side as Garou passed them. Once he was outside, he saw them groaning in pain because of the impact. He narrowed his eyes as he walked toward them.

The young woman in the orphanage decided to go out and see what is happening when a sudden scream from the outside stopped her. She recognized the sound, it belonged to the manager. The manager screams, followed by the cries of the rest of the group. Their cries and wails made the young woman shiver in fear and stop in her tracks, she didn't dare to go outside.

Ari and her brother hugged each other as they heard the voices outside, screaming in pain.

Outside, Garou was looking coldly at the people screaming on the ground. He made sure to not kill any of them. He wanted them to suffer, their injuries were as bad as the two bastards from earlier.

" You are the one who did that to my brothers !"

Garou looked at one who spoke, he wore similar clothes to Seryu and her group. Garou instantly realized he was another soldier, he also noticed the similarity between him and the two bastards from earlier. Behind the man a group of men with the same attire pointing their weapons toward Garou.

Garou replied " So you are the brother of these two bastards from earlier "

The man seemed to get angrier as he heard Garou, he replied " That's correct, and I'm going to kill you for what you have done "

Garou didn't feel any pressure from the man, he casually replied " So you are going to fight me with your men for two bastards who ….."

The man interrupted Garou " I don't care about your reasons, And for the record, I know what these two have been doing, and I don't care. You will be killed regardless of your reasons. Men shot !"

All the soldiers opened fire at Garou who stayed in his place not moving, they kept shooting nonstop as they saw Garou still standing in his place without moving. Once the guns magazines were out of ammo, they stopped. To their horror, Garou didn't receive as much as a small scratch and near his feet hundreds of bullets lying on the ground. They didn't understand how he did it.

Garou smirked as he said " My turn !"

He kicked the group causing all the bullets on the group to fly in the air. Next in extremely precise and fast movement, Garou hit the bullets, sending them back to the soldiers, taking them down all in one go.

The only one who was left standing was the vice-captain who was shaking in fear of seeing Garou's display. Garou walked closer to him as he said " since you knew everything about them and didn't care. You deserve the same treatment ! "

The vice-captain followed the example of his predecessors screaming out of main as Garou shredded him like the rest.

Garou looked at the man in the ground with disdain and disgust when he heard Seryu's voice.

" GAROU!"

Garou looked at Seryu who had a crazed look on her face, she was burning with rage.


	7. Garou VS Seryu

Garou looked calmly at the crazed Seryu, She didn't seem to be in her right mind at least the look on her face was not normal.

"I regret helping you, you harmed so many people and that just in a few hours after arriving at the capital. An evil spawn like must be removed !" Seryu was seething with rage.

Garou wasn't affected by the least, he simply replied "I just taught those scum a lesson for life."

"I will make you pay for what you did to them !" Seryu declared her intention

"you want to fight me on the behave of them? Do you know what they have done?" Garou asked calmly

Seryu scoffed as she replied, "I do, and I want to take revenge for them !". Seyru replied, even though she didn't know what Garou was talking about. She assumed they acted like usual, they were a group of jerks who made fun of her justice openly and insulted her. She could tolerate them as they don't cause real harm. However, she didn't know what they have been doing in the shadows, she didn't know what kind of scum they truly were. And so in her books, Garou was the grand evil which must be destroyed.

Garou gave her a disdainful gaze, as he spoke words filled with mockery "What are you going to do shoot me? Send you useless dog to punch me with his ugly arms? You and your dog are pathetically weak, amateurs I can beat with my eyes closed."

Seryu screamed "KURO!"

The little dog beside her turned into a giant monster, and his small arms became enormous and muscular, Kuro started growling.

Garou smirked disdainfully "Oh, how nice of you! I put quite the effort today as I entertained myself by beating these scum, and now you are sending your dog for me to eat. You are making my day wonderful, in fact, I will send you a piece of his meat to take a bite."

Seryu pointed at Garou and screamed, "PUNCH HIM TO DEATH!"

Kuro charged as fast he could toward, he raised his muscular arm punched out toward Garou who was still smiling. Kuro's powerful punch came to an arbitrary stop by Garou's arms which weirdly hugged Kuro's entire arm. It was like a child hugged his doll.

Garou smirk widened as he said, "I will be taking this one as a start."

The next instant, Kuro lost his arm, Garou severed the whole arm with no effort. Garou then smirked as he threw the entire severed limb away. Kuro didn't stop attacking after losing his arm, he turned toward Garou and opened his mouth, his sharp teeth threatened to bite Garou's head off.

Kuro's head fastly approached Garou's. When he was about to hit bite Garou, Garou's head disappeared and an exceedingly powerful kick connected with his chest. Garou managed to dodge the bite and counter with a deadly blow an incredible speed.

Kuro was sent flying back next to Seryu who had a shocked face, her teigu lost an arm and was kicked so hard that it had a dent in it is chest. She looked at Garou with anger and slight fear, if she received a punch or kick from him, then she will die. Her best option is to fight him from a distance.

Seryu pulled her two hand size machine gun and pointed them at Garou who laughed seeing her action, "you think your little toys can take me down?" he said

Seryu screamed as she started shooting Garou, who in return moved his arms like shadows in front of his body. Seryu didn't stop shoot until she heard the sound of clicking from her guns, her guns didn't have ammo left.

Seryu relaxed slightly then tensed again when she realized Garou didn't receive as much as a small scratch, he was standing in the same place without moving a step. Garou smirked arrogantly while raising his hands in front of him, his fists were clenched tightly. He then relaxed his fists and opened them. Seryu's of bullets dropped at the ground shocking Seryu by the display of speed and accuracy.

Seryu couldn't help but to take a step backwards, seeing Garou catching bullets like that was beyond anything she had ever seen, she heard and saw people countering bullets with their weapons or shields, but to catch them with bare hands was a whole different level. She understood Garou was leagues above her in strength and speed.

Seryu calmed herself then looked at Kuro, which was struggling to stand up, she ordered it "Kuro, go berserk !"

Kuro stopped struggling and began to growl loudly, Garou looked toward the Kuro calmly without moving. He simply watched Kuro change colour to a mix of sinister red and brown, the dog increased in size as it grew more muscular and defined. Kuro gave a loud roar, which could stun any average person. Garou looked at the razor-sharp teeth that grew into circular rows inside Kuro's mouth. The current Kuro reminded Garou of the demon level monster from his world.

Seryu laughed proudly as she said, "You are done now!"

Garou gave Seryu a bored look then started walking toward her ignoring the change in Kuro. Seryu seeing his actions screamed to her weapon "Kuro, KILL!"

Kuro jumped like arrow with his mouth wide open, and his razor-sharp teeth in full display. Kuro was heading toward Garou in straight line.

Garou continued walking steadily and calmly ignoring the approaching monster. Seryu smile widened as she thought she would finally take down Garou. Unfortunately for her, the moment Kuro was about to bite Garou, Garou countered with a powerful uppercut, his powerful blow caused cracks to appear under his feet as Kuro was sent flying 20 meters high in the air before start dropping again.

Seryu smile froze by such a display from Garou. She looked at him with terror, she wanted to move backwards when Kuro dropped right next to her. She turned to Kuro and sweat started to cover her, Kuro was lying on the ground motionless, and a considerable large hole replaced part of his chest and lower jaw. Garou single blow caused such damage to Kuro while using the trump card !

"Looking away while facing me, you are either quite brave or a fool with the latter being the most probable reason."

Garou's voice sounded near her, she turned her face back to Garou as she tried to jump back to make distance. However Garou was faster, his hand like a claw made of the hardest steel, clamped her neck mercilessly. Stopping her movement.

Seryu tried to break free, but she couldn't budge Garou's hand in the slightest. She tried kicking him, but his body was too strong for her to even cause damage to him. Seryu could only watch helplessly as her life was in Garou's hand.

"If you could fight as well as you can scream and talk, this fight might be more interesting, truly pathetic" Garou mocked her with an arrogant smile.

Seryu tried to speak "I-i am ….." Then suddenly a gun appears from inside her mouth and shot Garou right in the face.

Seryu was about to smile when her eyes widened yet again, she saw the bullet between Garou's teeth. He caught the bullet with his teeth! She then realized how he was looking at her. His eyes were cold, too cold. Her heart sank, and despair started to control her mind.

"Garou, STOP!" Ogre finally made it to the scene with his soldiers and what he saw was far worse than his expectations. Dozen of his policemen were injured. In addition, a group of men were lying on the ground with injuries that even worse. Ogre assumed they are some of the wealthy local merchants.

Despite all of these casualties and their cruelty, they were still bearable. But he saw Garou holding Seryu's neck as if he was about to snap it. Moreover, he saw her Teigu lying on the ground with a horrifying hole in it is body. He wondered how Garou caused such damage, especially that from the look of teigu it was using its trump card. Moreover, the trump card will increase its durability and strength to a terrifying degree. Still, he pushed these questions to the back of his mind as he had to fix this situation. If he made a mistake, then this whole situation will turn even worse, he might even die here.

Garou looked at Ogre casually as he said "Here to take revenge as well?"

Ogre felt terror filling his heart, the casual look from Garou terrified him. He wanted nothing more than running away. But he had to speak "If you kill Seryu, then you will have to deal with huge consequences."

Garou glare intensified as he was clearly not happy by Ogre words, he replied "Are you threatening me ?"

Ogre hair stood hearing the malice in Garou's voice, he gathered all the courage he had and said "N-no, I'm just telling facts!. I'm not here to take revenge, Seryu is still young and impulsive ! I want to hear your story first."

Garou looked at Ogre carefully and snorted, he knew what Ogre was trying to calm the situation and control the damage. Garou decided to play along he wanted to see how Ogre will react.

"The story is quite simple. Two bastards tried to rape a little girl who is not 10 years old, while a huge crowd cheered for them. So I simply took the trash out. Then there was this orphanage manager who was selling little children to adults to perform sexual actions on them. Finally, these dogs on the floor along with Seryu came to take revenge despite knowing the kind of garbage they were !"

Ogre was not really surprised, such things were typical in the capital, not to mention he did things even worse. But he still had to fake his surprise and act as if he didn't know. He didn't want to be at the receiving end of Garou's wrath.

On the other hand, Seryu who was still held by Garou, her eyes were red and her face pale because of the sheer force of Garou's grip. Despite all of that, she was still stunned by Garou's words. Was that the truth? If so, then didn't she fights to protect and take revenge for the real evil? Such thoughts disgusted her, she refused to believe Garou's words.

"Mister is not lying, they really did that. They wanted to use my sister as their toy." A boy came out of the orphanage alongside a little girl who was nodding her head while crying.

"Please, don't hurt mister, he is a good person," The girl said while sobbing.

Ogre felt like rolling his eyes, hurt him? How? He was afraid of saying something wrong or do something to agitate Garou if he made a mistake here, he might be injured beyond hope of recovery or even worse, death. Yet, these children had the gall to ask to not harm him. Ogre wanted to cry.

Seryu, on the other hand, stopped all forms of struggling, she stared lifelessly at the kids. She really fought for evil this time ! Seryu might refuse to believe Garou's words, but the children were a different story. She didn't think they will lie for someone as scary as Garou.

She spoke softly "I-I-i didn't know. I'm sorry !"

Garou ignored her as he looked at Ogre. Ogre immediately faked his rage "This is not tolerable. How could these monsters act like this ! They will receive the harshest punishment for their crimes. Men take them all from here, don't show them any mercy or regard. They deserve the worst of punishments for their crime!"

Ogre spoke in anger and passion that surprised his subordinates. They knew what kind of person he was, and seeing him act like this made them stand dumbly for a few moments before they started moving.

Ogre looked back at Garou and said "I hope you can let Seryu off this time. She is a good girl, she just wants to protect the citizen and punish evil, but she is quite impulsive in her actions."

Garou could tell Ogre was faking his reaction, but he still let it pass. He threw Seryu to Ogre's side as he said coldly, "The next time you stand in my way, I will make the capital operate with no soldiers or police for a while !"

Seryu coughed as she finally was free. On the other hand, Ogre sighed in relief, he had no doubt Garou could carry his threats for real. He was simply too powerful !

On the other hand, Garou wanted only scare them, he didn't want to become a criminal before he could understand his situation completely, gathering information while not being annoyed by insects is more preferable to him. Besides, the real scum will have to live a life worse than death, so everything is alright for now. As for future, Garou didn't fear what these fellows might plan, he will crush them with no exception if they tried something funny against him.


	8. First day in capital ended peacefully

Garou watched Ogre's men carry the injured and taking them away, Ogre apologized again for what happened before retreating alongside his men while Seryu walked right behind him. She remained silent after Garou let go of her, she didn't even look at Garou again.

"Mister, thank you !"

Garou looked toward the two children who spoke at the same time, he didn't reply as his eyes moved to the woman standing behind them. She was pale and shaking slightly as she looked warily at Garou. She wasn't especially ugly nor beautiful, she was an average looking woman.

The woman moved closer to the children while watching Garou, she put her hands on their shoulders and pulled them closer to her. She said with a shaking voice "Thank you very much, If there is anything we could help you with, please ask."

Despite her saying this, Garou knew she was too afraid and barely able to speak. Probably the only reason she managed to talk was in fear of Garou getting a wrong impression of her, she didn't know who he was, but all the strong people usually are evil, and Garou looked like a typical evil man. However, her fear didn't bother Garou he replied "Good, I have a few questions I would like you to answer."

"Yes sir" The woman replied

"Call me Garou" Garou said

"Yes, sir- I mean, Garou….. My name is Himiko"

"I'm Eren, and this is my twin sister Ari" The boy didn't want to be left out, so he introduced himself and his sister.

Garou looked at the boy and nodded before looking back at Himiko, who was flinching uncomfortably, he said, "We need a place to sit first as I have many questions for you."

Himiko tried her best not to cry or scream, she said fearfully "I'm sorry, please follow me."

Garou followed Himiko alongside the children, she led him inside the orphanage.

In Ogre's office inside the police station, Ogre sat on his chair tiredly. After the whole parade with Garou, his first action after arriving at the police station was to punish those who followed his vice captain, as for the man himself, he was kicked out of the police. Considering his injuries, even if he didn't kick him now, he would have to stop working as he was a cripple now. Ogre followed the laws this time because of the possibility of Garou knowing about how he handled the men. Every time he remembered Garou's eyes, his heart would shudder, it was genuinely terrifying experience.

"Teacher" Seryu entered the office and called Ogre waking him up from his thoughts.

"Oh, Seryu, How are your injuries?" Ogre asked her

Seryu put her hand on her neck, where bandages where covering it. Garou didn't hit Seryu. However, his iron grip left her neck bruised badly.

"I'm fine, Garou didn't harm me…. Not like the others" Seryu replied weakly

"What about Koru?" Ogre asked her again

"Koru is fine as well, berserk mode and the Garou's damage caused it to overheat and slow its regeneration rate significantly. I won't be able to use Koru for 3-5 days" Seryu answered bitterly, her teigu and partner got damaged badly because of her foolishness.

"I'm sorry, I acted foolishly without waiting for your orders, I almost got myself and Koru killed. On top of that, I might have angered Garou to the point where he attacked you and the rest of the police. I'm really sorry" Seryu spoke in a weak voice and lowered head to Ogre.

Ogre didn't respond immediately, he didn't even think of blaming or lecturing Seryu previously. Garou's strength was something far exceeded all his expectations. If someone told Ogre an injured man and bandaged like a mummy can do all that damage to berserk Koru, then Ogre would have laughed at him and called him crazy.

Although Ogre had this kind of thoughts, he naturally would never tell Seryu. He took the role of a wise sage as he spoke, "Seryu, I warned you about Garou earlier, I told you he was exceedingly dangerous. Yet, you ignored my words and fought with him, if not for the fact that I came at the right time you might have ended like the other men or even worse, you might have lost your life there! I hope you will learn from your mistakes and not act impulsively again if you want to bring justice then follow your orders and only your orders."

Seryu kept her head lowered, she didn't refute Ogre. he then asked her "What did you feel when you fought with Garou ?"

Ogre was terrified by Garou's stare alone, then what about a person fought against him and looked into his eyes from close distance. What did she feel?

Seryu froze slightly upon hearing the question, She remained silent for a while and Ogre didn't force her to speak. She finally said, "At first, I felt fear and intimidated by his stare and the air around him. However, I had Koru beside me, so I washed these feelings away. But the next thing I knew, Koru was down, and my guns didn't work against him, he caught all the bullets with his bare hands. I felt despair and terror as a bad feeling was growing in my heart. Even when I made Koru go berserk, the bad feeling was still there. I saw Garou defeating Koru in an instant, my mind stopped thinking, and then I was in his hand, my life was in his hand. His cold eyes stared into mine, I thought I would die…. No, I knew I will die !"

Seryu voice by this point was cracking, her eyes turned and started crying stunning Ogre. It was the first time for him seeing her cry after her parent's death.

"I was terrified, the only thought crossed my mind was to escape. I was afraid of death, I even thought of abandoning justice to save my life, I didn't want to die! I don't want to feel like this again ….. I don't want to fight Garou again. I'm so sorry, I will never do anything without your permission again" Seryu broke down.

Ogre stood up from his seat and went to hug her, this was out of his expectation. To think facing Garou nearly broke Seryu ! Garou was truly far scarier than what Ogre thought. But he was still satisfied with this. He might have lost a few of his men, but in return, Seryu was now more obedient to him than ever. The trauma she experienced won't allow her to act on her own for a while. Seryu was his best tool, and he was glad to see such an outcome.

"And the empire is fighting against every other country alone?" Garou asked Himiko

"yes, The empire is the strongest country in the world-dominating all other countries. And as of late, the empire started sending armies to destroy all other countries around it to keep itself as the strongest and remind the world of its might!" Himiko answered Garou. By now, she was not as fearful of Garou as earlier, as he didn't do anything to harm her or the children. He merely asked questions, and many of them were simple ones that any child in the street knows.

It was kinda funny how a powerful man who could cause so much damage and scare the police soldiers to retreat, doesn't have basic knowledge of the world. She wondered in what cave did he live before coming to the capital.

"What about the police? The looked quite corrupted to me or have crazy soldiers. Who is responsible for that gathering of filth?" Garou asked again.

Himiko sighed and said, "It wasn't always like this. You see, when the previous emperor was still alive. Police where the optime of goodness and fairness. However, after his death, everything went wrong."

"The new emperor is an evil tyrant" Garou casually asked.

"No, the new one is a little child, the son of the previous emperor. As far as I know, he is a little kid ignorant about how to manage the empire. So he is just a symbol sitting on the throne. The real man in control is the prime minister, I heard he is someone irresponsible and prefer to keep eating. He pushes all the work for his subordinates without care which resulted in spreading corruption. The police force where among the first to be corrupted as these men removed the old good police chiefs and captains and replaced with their men, so they could control the law. I'm not really sure about the details, there are many rumours about how things came to this" Himiko answered.

Himiko didn't know about the prime minister crimes in detail, she was unaware that he spread corruption on purpose to have an easier time ruling the empire. What she knew was the general speculation the common people came up with and rumours.

"Do you remember the little dog that was the police girl? What kind of beast it was? I felt something of it being unnatural but couldn't put my finger on it" Garou asked. He felt that Seryu's dog was not a simple dangerous best. He wanted to know if it is known around here.

Himiko shook her head, "I don't know, but I heard rumours about powerful weapons created by using S ranked dangerous beasts called teigu or imperial arms. They were created by the first emperor when the empire came to be. I don't know anything else."

Garou closed his eyes as he remembered his interaction with Seryu and the rest, he remembers the other soldier calling Koru a teigu. So it was a powerful old weapon !

Garou opened his eyes and said, "Thank you, that was helpful."

"Umm …. Mister" Ari, who was sitting with her brother near Himiko silently until now spoke

Garou and Himiko looked at the little girl, who continued speaking "Can you stay with us? Bad people might come again" she asked hopefully.

Garou didn't answer her, but Himiko did "Mister Garou might be busy and can't stay here all the time to protect us."

"Then let's hire him !" Eren said, supporting his sister.

"We are too poor, we barely have money for food," Himiko said bitterly. She understood the children insecurities, but there was nothing she can do here. Putting aside her fear of Garou, she knew they barely had money to feed the children, let alone hiring someone. And she knew rich people would pay tons of gold for Garou to work for them.

"If you can provide me with a quiet place to stay, then I don't mind. And if you know how to cook, then the food is not an issue. I can hunt a few animals and beasts, it should solve the food issue" Garou said casually.

He needed a place to stay, not to mention he didn't know how to cook, he wanted to eat a tasty cooked food. Finally, he was a broken man with empty pockets, gathering money was not hard considering how strong he was. But he was not willing to step too low for it. Also, he didn't want to look for rich people and work for them because he despises rich people and those in power, he would prefer to stay in simple orphan overworking for them. Finally, seeing how bad the situation in the orphanage, helping the children a little is not a bad idea.

In front of him, the two children jumped happily while Himiko was stunned. She didn't see it coming.

"But ….." Himiko wanted to say something

"Do you have a problem ?" Garou interrupted her

His casual question made her shiver, she shook her head as she replied "No, you are more than welcome."

Garou didn't mean to scare her, it was only a casual question. But his display earlier made his casual words quite the threat. After all, who would want to piss someone like him?

With this, his first day in the capital ended with him finding a place to stay and someone to cook for him. In Garou's eyes, this was a peaceful day.


	9. Searching For Clues

Searching For Clues

The next day, Himiko woke up in the morning like usual. She changed her clothes and went to the kitchen to prepare whatever food she can for the children. When she entered the kitchen, her eyes widened in shock. On top of the table, there was a basket filled with rabbits and birds. Her mind short-circuited for a moment.

She walked slowly toward them, she touched them, then pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Her state changed from shock to happiness and excitement. She didn't know how all this meat came here then she remembered Garou, it must be his doing!

She raised her sleeves; she was too excited that she wanted to start cooking immediately. But she stopped in her tracks when she heard sounds coming from the outside. She curiously moved toward the window and looked outside. She saw Garou punching and kicking the air. His speed was something beyond her eyes capabilities. However, what drew her attention the most was his bandages.

Yesterday, when she met Garou, he was like a living mummy. His body was covered with bandages. But currently, he had none covering himself. His upper body is naked while he was covering his lower body with tattered pants. Garou didn't seemed to be bothered by his clothes. If someone asked Himiko's opinion on Garou's body, the first thing that would come to her mind is the word perfect.

Garou stopped his actions and turned toward Himiko suddenly and spoke "You are finally awake."

Himiko was surprised as she didn't expect him to notice her since he was immersed in his training, but she still spoke politely "um-ah yeah, good morning Garou."

"I assume you saw the meat" Garou said, making Himiko node, "Good, you should start making breakfast. The amount I gathered should be enough for breakfast, I will go out again later to get lunch food."

Himiko blinked in confusion, she said "The food you gathered enough for 2 days."

"No, it is enough only for breakfast. You are going to cook all of it" Garou replied casually.

Himiko wasn't sure how to reply, she was sure cooking all that meat is too much for breakfast. She believed that the food will go to waste and they won't be able to finish it all. She wanted to protest against Garou, but seeing his eyes made her stop any thoughts of rebelling against his orders. She sighed and went to cook.

Hours later, Himiko sat on the dining table alongside the orphanage's children, including Ari and Eren. However, no one of them tried to eat despite the massive pile of meat before their eyes. They were busy watching Garou wolfing meat like wild danger beast. By the time he finished eating, they had lost the count of how many plates he had eaten on his own. One thing for sure, he ate as much as 5 grown men or maybe more.

Garou looked at the children and Himiko who were eyeing him like a zoo animal. He didn't like it in the slightest. He said "If you are not going to eat, I will eat your shares. I can eat a few more plates, no big deal."

The children started eating as they were afraid of him eating their food. On the other hand, Himiko face turned red out of embarrassment, she apologized in a low voice before started eating like the children.

After they finished eating, Garou spoke with Himiko "Himiko, do you have clothes my size ?"

Himiko thought a little before saying "wait a moment, please."

She went somewhere then came back with some clothes. Garou took the clothes and changed into them. They were not a perfect fit for Garou, the shirt was brown and slightly tight for his size, the pants were beige coloured and somewhat short for him. He still took them, after all, they are better than nothing.

The children who saw Garou's current clothing laughed at him, which made Garou scowl a little. He internally decided to get better clothes later on.

* * *

In Nightraid's hideout, Najenda was staring seriously at Tatsumi.

"Today is your first real and solo mission as an assassin" She said

Tatsumi nodded firmly with a hint of excitement.

"Your target is Ogre, a corrupted captain in the police force. He committed unspeakable crimes and caused the pain for many families. You must slay him and bring justice to those who suffered under his hands" Najenda spoke to Tatsumi.

He, in return, nodded and replied "Don't worry boss, I will not let you down !"

"Good luck Tatsumi" Bulat said

"Thanks, bro !" Tatsumi replied then left the hideout

* * *

It was nearing the afternoon, Garou was sitting in the yard in front of the orphanage under a tree with his eyes closed. He opened them then looked at his hands and clenched them into fists, he was back at his peak now. The injuries which take weeks to heal for ordinary people took a day and a half. He gave one of his more moderate smiles.

"Mister, you look scary when you are smiling."

"That's right. You are like an evil lord plotting to destroy the world."

Ari and Eren said when they saw Garou's smile. The two of them kept following Garou and staring at him in awe since the morning. And now seeing a glimpse of his smile, they gave their honest opinion to Garou's displeasure.

"First, don't call me Mister, Garou is good enough. Second It is rude to speak to someone like this" Garou replied

"hahahahaha" the kids laughed, they showed no fear while interacting with Garou. Unlike Himiko, who would get tense every time Garou looked at her.

While Garou and the children were talking to each other, mostly the children laughing at Garou, Himiko came from the orphanage. She looked at the three and said "Enough you two ! you shouldn't be rude to people, especially older than you. Mister Garou, I hope the children didn't annoy too much."

Himiko was afraid of Garou harming the children if they continued to pester him like this. On the other hand, Garou was more bothered how people keep making a mistake of how old he is, he was sure he didn't look that old, two or three years older at most. He looked at Himiko for a moment before saying "Actually, I'm 18. And I don't like being called mister."

Himiko and even the children were stunned, Himiko in her stunned state said "You are younger than me! How? You look like a middle-aged man."

It was Garou turn to be stunned, he replied "I know I look a few years older than my age. But I'm nowhere near being called middle-aged !"

The children on the side laughed at the two of them.

Garou growled a little then said "I'm going out, Don't wait for me for dinner."

"You are leaving us?!" The two kids asked at the same time

"Please, don't go !" Ari said

"we will not laugh at you again" Eren added

Garou smiled at the two and replied, "I'm going out a little, I will be back late tonight, or tomorrow morning" he then turned to Himiko and said "Keep my dinner share on the side, I will eat it when I'm back."

He didn't wait for her to respond, he turned around and disappeared from their sight stunning them. To them, it felt like Garou simply disappeared or teleported, while he in fact merely moved too fast for them to follow him with their eyes. At Garou's current level, few people in the world can catch his movement with their eyes and even less capable of getting close to it.

Garou moved toward the capital gates at full speed; he was heading to where he came from, back to the lake where he woke up yesterday. He hoped to find anything to help him understand how he ended up here and how to go back. Garou, in a mere few minutes, was out of the capital and deep in the forest. For other people to get here even with horses might take more than 2 hours.

"tsk, I didn't pay attention to my surrounding yesterday thanks to my weakened state. Grrrr...I'm pretty much lost, where the hell was that lake."

Garou spent another hour searching around, with his speed, he managed to cover a considerable area of the forest. Finally, he spotted a huge rotten boar infested with worms. It was the one he killed yesterday, it meant he was close. Another minute passed, and Garou finally found the lake.

Garou explored the lake surrounding then jumped into the lake. However, all of his attempts met with nothing but failures. The lake was ordinary as much as it could get, and so the surrounding. Garou sat down in front of the lake, trying to figure anything out.

Hours later, Garou gave up on finding clues. He turned around and left the lake. In his return, he changed his way back to the capital and to his surprise, he found a thin wires on the floor. The same kind of wires used by the green bandit from yesterday!

Garou checked the surroundings for traps, but it was all clear, he then came to the conclusion that these wires used to inform the green bandit in case of intruders.

Garou smiled widely as he stepped on the wire. He was looking forward to his revenge.


	10. The Payback

The Payback

Garou hid between the trees and waited silently, his wait didn't last long as he heard footsteps approaching his location quickly, he kept his eyes in the direction of the footsteps sound, barely a moment and his sight was welcome with three people.

The three were the same from his yesterday with the big scissors woman missing. Garou smiled upon seeing them, he felt a little pity, one of his targets was not there.

"So where is the intruder, Lubbock" The blonde woman asked

"How should I know? The intruder didn't step on another wire, he might have left the place or noticed my wires and decided to hide" Lubbock replied

"We should search around, we can't fail the boss again" The armoured guy said

"Najenda was not happy about our fail yesterday" Lubbock sighed.

"Arrgh, Don't remind me... how I wish to meet that guy again. I will snap his neck with my hands" Leone said, she was still frustrated from yesterday's fight.

"Hooah, you should watch out for what you wish, your wishes might bite you back hehehe" Garou sound rang from behind the three.

All three jumped away from the voice, they were shocked by hearing the sudden voice. And when they turned around, they were welcomed by a familiar face with red hair. They got more shocked when they realised he was standing nearly 3 meters behind them, they didn't know when he sneaked behind him or how.

"trying to sneak up on us like that, you are quite the coward, aren't you" Leone said with disdain. Nevertheless, she still took stance preparing for the fight, the other two did the same.

Garou remained relaxed, he replied casually "says the one who ganged with other 3 to beat someone heavily injured. Besides, if I wanted to sneak attack you, then no one of you would be still standing"

Leone narrowed her eyes, the other two did the same. If he sneak attacked them with the strength and speed he showed yesterday, then he may indeed manage to kill someone among them or at the very least injure them!

"And why you didn't attack us? Are you here to talk with us ?" Lubbock asked curiously. He was the smartest member of the night raid, and he thought if their enemy didn't take the chance of attacking them, then he might not be here for a fight.

"Talk? No, I'm here to take revenge for yesterday and beat the hell out of you. Truthfully I hoped all the four of you would be present. Three is fine as well, I make sure you will share the punishment of your missing friend" Garou replied, he seemed a little down when he spoke about not meeting all of them.

"You will regret not taking your chance, we forced you to escape yesterday with your tail between your legs. Today, we will take you down for good" Leone smirked at she pumped her fists together.

"hahaha….. Take me down? This is the funniest joke I heard in a while. Yesterday, I was barely able to stand, and you still failed to take me down. And now, I'm at 100% again" Garou replied to Leone's taunt.

His words made the three realise something important, yesterday the guy before them really looked like a dying person and now, he seemed perfectly fine. In addition to him being weak at that time, they were four against one, now only three of them present. It meant this fight will be harder than yesterday's battle.

"Are you ready ?" Garou smiled maniacally as he eyed the three assassins. As for the three, they felt their hair stand on its end. The feeling of danger Garou was giving was something they have never experienced before.

"Here, I come !" Garou said as he walked forward.

* * *

Two hours later inside Nightraid hideout, Tatsume has been stripped by Akame who continued checking his body for wounds.

"are you crazy?" Tatsumi yelled at Akame as he tried to stop her. But, Akame continued her checking, ignoring his protest.

"That's how Akame is, just give up Tatsumi" Najenda spoke with smirk.

Akame stopped as she made sure Tatsumi was not injured, she explained herself "Sorry, one of my old comrades got wounded during a battle. He ignored the wound as it wasn't heavy or life-threatening. But he ended up dying by the poison inflicted with the wound."

Tatsumi calmed down as he heard Akame words, he thanked her for her care then turned around to Najenda as he put his clothes on "By the way boss, where are bro and the rest ?"

Najenda froze, she actually forgot about them. She replied, "They went out nearly two hours ago to check a possible intruder. They still haven't come back."

Akame tensed slightly, she was worried for her friends. She said "Something might have happened to them, we should look for them."

Tatsumi nodded "Count me in, I'm coming with you !"

Najenda thought for a moment then said "Akame, wait a moment. Tatsumi go call Mine and Sheele. We are going altogether, spreading our forces thin will endanger ourselves and lower the chances of helping them if they were ambushed !"

Hearing the reason behind her words, Akame couldn't help but agree to wait a little for the rest. Tatsumi ran off to get the other two.

Moments later, Tatsumi was back with the two girls. Najenda informed them about the situation, the two girls brought their weapons and left with the others. The five assassins stood in front of the hideout as Najenda called for her flying beast.

"Do you know where did they go?" Mine asked

Najenda nodded "Lubbock informed me about the general location, we will start searching from there."

The five of them mounted a flying beast and headed out. Few minutes later, they reached their destination.

"I see someone lying on the ground down there. I can't make out who is it because of the darkness" Mine said

"Everyone prepare for the worst ! We are going down" Najenda warned the others.

The other four brought their weapons out, preparing to a possible fight. Once the beast descended, the five jumped down. When they reached the ground, they finally managed to see the body and the sight shocked them.

The body belonged to a man, he was tall and quite muscular. However, what stunned them was the lack of clothes. Except for the underwear, the man had nothing covering his body. They didn't recognise who this man was as his face didn't resemble that of a human. It was all swollen and had a purple colour, the eyes were hidden in the bruises, and his lips were as big as Hippo's lips. His head was messy and had hair only at the back and the side of his head. The top was bald with lines of blood running down from it.

"Bro !" Tatsumi screamed

"What!" the rest of them.

Tatsumi got closer to the man, he said with a tear in his eyes "It is bro ! Look at this scar, it was on bro's body."

The four of them were shocked, Najenda hurriedly got closer to inspect the man. She said in a grave tone "He is indeed Bulat. Luckily he is still alive, but his body has many wounds, especially his face."

"Whoever did this, I'm going to KILL THEM ALL!" Tatsumi screamed with determination as the other had a similar look in their eyes.

"Tatshumi! Ish fat yo"

Weak scream came from behind the wood. The five recognised it, it belonged to Leone! The five ran as fast as they could toward Leone. And yet they were surprised again.

Leone's body was buried under the ground as her bruised head was sticking out of it. Her Teigu belt was used to block her mouth. Her eyes were filled with tears, they were tears of happiness. She was like someone saw a long-missing lover or a family member. The assassins were stunned by this, was this the same headstrong Leone?

"Eeeeeeh" Sheele suddenly squeaked alerting the assassins who were still looking at Leone, they turned to Sheele who was staring terrified as she pointed her finger behind Leone, at the top of the trees.

The four looked in the direction, and they felt horrified by the sight, Lubbock was hanging upside down from one of the tallest trees. His wires tying him, making sure he won't fall or free himself anytime soon. Lubbock's eyes were rolled to the back of his head, leaving only the white colour in his semi-opened eyes, while his mouth wide open showing that he screamed loudly before losing his conscious. And what truly horrified them was a branch tree sprouting from his ass.

"What the fuck happened here ?!" Najenda cursed loudly as 3 of her elite assassins were reduced to such a state, she was outraged.


	11. Crushed

In Nightraid's hideout, Shelee entered the throne room where the rest of the assassins were gathering except for Bulat and Lubbock.

"I treated Bulat and Lubbock wounds, their injuries are not life-threatening but still bad enough to prevent them from moving for a while" Shelee said

"I'm more worried about their mental state than their physical one, especially Lubbock" Najenda said with a frown, making her subordinates shiver remembering Lubbock's….

"So Leone, What happened? And how many people ambushed you to end up like that?" Mine asked Leone, who was standing at the side silently, Leone shivered a little before looking back Mine and the others, who were all staring at her.

Leone took a deep breath then spoke bitterly "We were not ambushed, we have been attacked head-on. Also, it was a single attacker."

"What ?!" The Assassins were stunned

"It was that bastard from yesterday!" Leone said

"Again?! Didn't you beat him yesterday and forced him to run away?" Mine asked

"Yesterday, he was injured and tired, barely able to stand. Today, he was at full power" Leone said bitterly.

"He recovered to full power in a day despite his injuries and came back for a fight ?" Tatsumi said

"Yes, he is fully recovered. And Tatsumi, he came back to insult us, to crush us but not for a fight. After all, he was too strong to call it a fight, calling it bullying is more suitable" Leone said as she clenched her fists remembering Garou's might.

"Tell us everything" Najenda said in a grave tone. Three top assassins with Teigus losing against a single man was no small matter. She must get all possible information about such an individual.

* * *

Garou arrogantly and slowly walked toward the three assassins causing their instincts to scream danger, especially Leone, whos Teigu gave her animalistic nature. The assassins didn't hesitate even a moment. They went all out from the beginning; this time, their opponent was not someone they could afford to underestimate.

Bulat used his trump card and went invisible, while Leone moved forward to confront Garou. Unlike the previous time, she didn't charge thoughtlessly. Her previous experience told her that thoughtless brute attacks might provide her with nothing but more pain and suffering.

Leone got closer and prepared to punch Garou, who was still smiling without reacting to her attack. She suddenly stepped to the right opening a way for Lubbock, who threw few Knives toward Garou. Garou extended his right hand and caught the knives effortlessly. His smile didn't fade as he moved his hand like lighting to interrupt Leone's kick from the side with the back of his hand.

Leone seeing her attack blocked wanted to step back and attack again. However, Garou didn't allow her; he extended his hand and caught her leg. She felt as if an iron claw caught her. She wanted to struggle, but Garou didn't allow it, he rotated with her still in his hand and threw her to the back, hitting an invisible Bulat, who was about to hit him.

With their relationship and years of working together, the assassins developed a decent teamwork. Leone attracted Garou attention with her fake attack opening the path for Lubbock knives. Then she tried to land a kick using the chance provided by Lubbock. Finally, Bulat was going to hit Garou's blind spot while he was blocking his other two teammates. Sadly their plan didn't work, against any other person it would have been good enough to take them down or at the very least forcing them to use their trump card. And even with then, their escape was not assured, but against Garou, it was only a child play.

"Is that all of you got? Disappointing" Garou gave them a disappointed look angering the three of them. It is not that he expected much from them. He saw how sloppy they were in their first encounter. To Garou, they were a group of brutes with strength and speed above average, and that is it. They didn't possess the skill or discipline to face him, even if he had lesser speed and strength, he would still be able to crush them all the same.

Lubbock the one who stayed the farthest said "You will regret your arrogance", he then pulled his hands to the back causing wires which he spread around during the small confrontation to surround Garou and move toward him at full speed. These wires were different from the usual ones. These were Lubbock trump card, wires that can cut through anything. He didn't want to restrain Garou like last time. He wanted to cut him to pieces and get done with it.

Garou wasn't aware of the wires difference, but his instincts told him they were dangerous. Besides, he got caught once, he wouldn't allow such a thing to happen twice. He turned toward Bulat and Leone and charged toward them, with his speed and flexible body, he passed through the gaps of the wires which still not closed.

In an instant, he was standing at the side of Bulat, who was not able to react to the sudden movement of Garou. Bulat attempted to strike Garou, but he was too slow, Garou kicked his head with too much force that he flew away, crashing through a tree. Moments later, Bulat armour disappeared and replaced with a silver sword. The armour returned to it is seals state as the owner himself was out cold.

Lubbock and Leone were shocked, Bulat was physically the strongest and had a powerful armour protecting him, yet he was knocked down with a single kick from Garou. If they were the one to receive that kick in the head, wouldn't they die on the spot?

Both of them pushed these thoughts to the back of their heads. They needed to focus on the enemy; otherwise, these thoughts will become a reality. Garou walked toward Leone with slow pace again. She took a battle stance preparing for engaging with him, at the same time, her mind working furiously to find a way to take down Garou.

Leone's eyes shone with battle intent as she thought of something, she jumped to the back and hugged one of the trees and uprooted it with her brute strength. Garou seeing her actions was amused and even whistled then said with a mocking tone "Gave up on hitting me and started attacking trees? Such a brutish prostitute."

Leone was angry hearing his words, but she kept her calm as she swung the tree toward Garou, who laughed and jumped high in the air that he was near the top of the shorter trees. Suddenly Garou heard the voice of an object piercing the air toward him, he tilted his head a little and saw a spear coming toward him. With a flawless move, Garou's hand extended toward a close tree branch. He applied a force causing the tree to break into small pieces while his body got pushed in the other direction, causing the spear to miss him.

Lubbock clicked his tongue and said "The next one will pierce through your ass, you fucking bastard !"

Lubbock didn't stop his attack while talking. He talked to distract Garou from his next attack. Threads were speeding toward Garou from all directions. What Lubbock didn't know his way to distract Garou has earned him a special punishment from Garou.

Garou replied with "Now, you sealed your fate", before started moving like a ghost, he skipped through the wires with unheard speed shocking Lubbock and even Leone.

Leone managed to see a shadow of Garou movement before losing track of him. She immediately turned her eyes toward Lubbock worriedly. But she was shocked again, Lubbock was not there !

" AAAAAAHHHHHHHh"

Leone heard Lubbock miserable scream from the above, she looked up and saw him hanging upside down with a tree branch sticking out of his ass. She didn't know how to think or react, such a sight during battle was something out of her expectation; in fact, it would be weirder if she did otherwise.

"You are the last one" Garou's voice came from behind Leone, tearing her attention from Lubbock miserable state.

Leone jumped to the back again widening distance, by now she understood perfectly that she stood no chance against Garou. She never expected him to be this powerful. His speed and strength were out of her league. What she didn't know was Garou's greatest strength wasn't his speed or physical strength but rather his skills. Sadly, she wasn't qualified to see Garou fighting as a martial artist.

Garou attacked once more. He instantly closed the gap between them. He appeared in front of Leone with a wide smile on his face. Leone felt helpless, she increased the distance so she could react to his sudden movement, but still failed to do so. She hopelessly punched Garou's face while praying for her punch to land on his face.

Garou disappeared again causing Leone to feel despair. She still couldn't hit him or even keep up with his movement!. When she thought the situation was already bad, she widened her eyes as her animalistic powers started disappearing. She lowered her head and saw her belt was missing.

"I felt this belt wasn't normal. It turns out it was your source of power" Garou's voice drifted from behind.

She turned around and saw her belt being inspected by Garou. Her blood turned cold. She was barely able to fight earlier, now after she lost her teigu, how is she supposed to continue battling Garou.

Garou returned his attention to her. He said with his evil smile "Now that you lost this toy, the source of your power, what are you going to do?"

Leone felt fear crossing through her body. She lost her weapon to her enemy, an enemy too powerful to fight back against and his smile scared her even more. It could be said Garou's smile is quite scary on its own. After all, Garou had a natural intimidating air and looks. His smiling face could scare men and animals equally.

Leone raised her hands into battle stance. She knew she couldn't win this. She decided since she had no chance of surviving today, she might as well go with a fight no matter what.

"Oh! For your courage, I shall spare you the unnecessary beating" Garou was slightly impressed by her resolve to fight regardless of her inevitable defeat and her fear.

He raised his leg high in the air then he stomped the ground with a terrifying force causing it to crack in all directions. A huge rock rose from the ground in front of Garou. He continued with his other leg kicking the massive rock from the bottom, forcing it to fly higher than any tree.

The display of brute force shocked Leone, this kind of strength was something beyond the capabilities of humans, was he a human? It was all that Leone's mind could think of.

After kicking the huge rock, Garou dashed toward the stunned Leone, his hand extended toward her like an iron claw. He caught her as if she was a hopeless prey, his moved followed by throwing Leone in the hole, which appeared in the place of the huge rock.

Garou then jumped toward the rock, it already reached the highest point with it is momentum and now was going to start falling again. Upon reaching the rock, Garou used his martial arts to destroy it to soil and dust.

All of this occurred in a mere 2 seconds, Garou dropped to the ground and watched the dropping soil and dust flooding the hole where Leone was. He watched as she was buried alive there.

He strolled toward the buried hole, once he stood on the top of it. He thrust his hand deep through the soil, then pulled it back. He brought Leone's head to the surface. Her face and hair were messy and covered with dirt. She was about to say something, but he used her belt to gag her mouth.

Leone looked up at Garou with confusion and terror. Garou smiled then his eyes moved to Bulat. The assassin who got knocked first was waking up slowly. Garou had a thoughtful look on his face before walking to the assassin.

Bulat hazy eyes widened when he noticed Garou approaching. He stood up immediately with vigilant look on his face. Bulat looked around to see where his friends were. He saw Leone's head gagged out of the ground. He blinked in confusion, how things came to this? He thought. He continued to look around, but he couldn't see Lubbock. Bulat sighed in relief. He thought Lubbock went to get reinforcement while he was unconscious.

Garou didn't know what Bulat was thinking if he did, he might have laughed loudly as pointed to the green assassins. Garou spoke to Bulat "Hey, since you are awake, take off your clothes, and I will spare you the extra beating."

Bulat blinked at Garou's word. His first thoughts were who would ask his enemy to strip mid-fight? Then a crazy idea passed through his mind. Maybe this enemy before him was interested in men. He might be gay, but he still wouldn't go into a relationship with an enemy, not to mention he prefered young men, not men in their early thirties or late twenties.

"I'm not going to repeat myself, take them off, or I will beat you and take them myself. It is your choice" Garou repeated.

Bulat gave Leone another look before he thought to himself [ I can't beat him on my own, my best option is to buy time till the others arrive. Besides, he doesn't look so bad ]

With this thought in mind, Bulat blushed slightly and said "I don't mind it, but we shouldn't do it here, someone is watching us here", in the end, Bulat winked Garou.

It was Garou's turn to be stunned; he looked at Bulat speechlessly. Usually, Garou wouldn't care about gays, but now he felt disgusted by Bulat, he couldn't care if Bulat was gay, but to talk to him like this and wink him was another matter.

The air around Garou turned wild as his mind filled with ways to torture Bulat. From the side, gagged Leone look at Garou weirdly, from her point of view, Garou animalistic nature resurfaced seeing Bulat bashful look. Usually, men would be aroused seeing beautiful, timid girls, right? Then gays would be excited in the same way if they saw timid handsome men !

After coming to this conclusion, Leone understood why Garou called her prostitute and wasn't interested in her body. Usually, men would at least look at her assists even during combat. But Garou didn't bother with them in the slightest. Suddenly everything made sense to her. He was gay, and he was now interested in Bulat !

Garou disappeared from Leone's sight with Bulat. She knew Garou took Bulat with his superior speed. Finally, Leone heard the screams of Bulat from behind the trees, she knew at that moment, Garou was the one standing at the back. She prayed for Bulat safety.

* * *

Leone telling the events as she remembered, and she managed successfully to get various reactions from her friends, especially when she spoke the last part.

"He raped Bulat?" Mine asked while making a weird face.

The rest of the assassins, including Najenda, felt awkward and not sure of how to react. The exception to this was Shelee who said "That can't be, Bulat underwear is still there. I think Garou wanted the clothes only. Maybe he liked them, and since he got a similar build to Bulat after all, he took them"

"I don't think it was that simple Shelee" Mine replied dismissing her friend, the rest of the assassins ignored Shelee as well. Ironically, the clumsy killer was the only one who got it right.

Mine turned to Leone and said "I wish I were there. I would have shot a hole into that bastard head."

Leone shook her head and said "Thankfully, you were not. You might be a great sniper by your physical strength, and close combat ability is by far the weakest. Before you could aim and shot, he would have already killed you a dozen times over."

Mine was speechless. She just huffed in reply. While it was Akame turn to ask "Why didn't he kill you? He obviously could have done it."

Leone knitted her brows tightly and said "I don't know, he was far stronger than us, but despite all the danger and how scary he was, I didn't feel any killing intent. He was more of a torrent of rage and anger directed at us."

Najenda, who was silent until now finally said "He might not considered you strong enough for him to kill you. Or maybe he didn't know who you were and thought of teaching you a lesson for attacking him. Regardless of the reason, that man hold too much power, probably only Esdeath can beat him in one on one fight. We need to gather information about him; for that, I will head back to the revolution headquarter. I will make a special order to look for this man. In my absence, Akame will be the leader. You will continue your missions under her. As for Bulat and Lubbock, they are not allowed to join missions for the next few weeks. They need to recuperate first."

* * *

Garou was in the capital. He was wearing new clothes, the clothes he took from the disgusting bastard. Garou back in the forest felt a little happy seeing a man with a similar body build wearing clothes to his liking. Fit shirt and wide and loose pants, however, the disgusting thing turned out to be gay. Even more, the guy winked Garou, Garou who showed no fear from the strongest enemies, he who didn't even budge in the face of death, felt uncontrollable shiver running through his back. The incident ruined Garou mode thoroughly. Even though he pretty much beat the gay to near death. He was still angry.

That ruined his revenge. He stopped moving and decided he should forget about the whole thing. Garou turned around toward the Capital gates. Nothing better to forget his misery than hunting and having a nice meal.


	12. Zanku

**Zanku**

**Days passed since Garou's revenge against Nightraid, Garou made a routine for himself to go out every day to the forests surrounding the capital. He would look for any possible clues about the purple light, he even interacted with people and some of the nearby villages to know if they heard or came in contact with this light. Unluckily for him, his efforts didn't fruit any results. He couldn't find any information, but he still learns a lot about this world and how it works.**

**The thing that got Garou's attention more than anything else was the corruption running through the empire and the constant state of war. He was disgusted by such actions and those who held authorities, but he still didn't care much about it, he was not a hero. Moreover, he disliked the politics, even more, the people should stand for themselves and rebel against the corrupted authorities and ask for their future and the future of their children, as for him? Unless they take the initiative in pissing him off, Garou won't go out of his way to deal with them.**

**At the same time, Garou continued his hunt while moving around. Every day, he would bring all kinds of animals and beasts back to the orphanage, sometimes he got even some fruits. Thanks to his work, the food quality and quantity provided to the children has increased considerably. In addition, Himiko had lost all her fears toward Garou, as she interacted more with him and saw the children being close to him. She still considered him quite scary, but she knew he was not an evil person.**

**Currently, Garou was meditating under a tree in front of the orphanage, he was re-imagining his various battles against all the s class heroes, dragon level monsters and against the baldy hero. He might not be able to fight them here, but their memory lives in his mind. The various choices he could have taken during these battles, the many possibilities and outcomes, he was studying them, reliving them and learning for them. He was so immersed in these memories that his body was stimulated as well. He was sweating as if he was really fighting.**

**"Garou !"**

**The voice of Ari calling him woke him up from mediating, Garou looked at Ari who was looking curiously at him.**

**"What are you doing?" Ari asked**

**"Training" Garou answered.**

**"I have never heard of someone training like this, shouldn't you be moving or carrying heavyweights" Ari asked.**

**"This is another way of training… What do you want? You are not here to ask me about my training, right?" Garou replied**

**"Oh, right! Himiko asked me to call you. The lunch is ready !" Ari said happily**

**Garou nodded and stood up while Ari turned around and ran to the inside. Garou followed her at his own slow pace.**

**Once he stepped inside the orphanage, the pleasant smell of the cooked food drifted in the air, Garou licked his lips and walked toward the dining room, he always had a huge appetite and liked to eat meat. It was especially when Himiko making it. He wasn't sure if Himiko was a great cook or the meat in this world is more tasty than his world, and he didn't care much, as long as he ate a delicious meal he was satisfied.**

**Garou sat on his chair and started wolfing food alongside the children, while he was eating, he noticed Himiko wasn't eating and didn't look like her usual self. He didn't say anything and continued eating.**

**After everyone finished eating, the children started leaving the room while Garou remained sitting with Himiko. Once everyone left, he spoke to Himiko "What is wrong with?"**

**Himiko was surprised by Garou's question, she smiled weakly "Nothing, I'm only a little tired."**

**Garou narrowed his eyes and said "You are a bad liar."**

**Himiko gulped as she felt Garou's intense glare at her, she didn't fear him like when she first met him, but his intense stare could easily make her feel uncomfortable. He was really too intimidating.**

**She gathered her courage and spoke "My childhood friend, Siri, was killed yesterday."**

**Garou's stare didn't relax, he asked "Who killed her and why?"**

**Himiko eyes turned red as she answered "They said someone called Zanku the beheader "**

**Garou repeated the name "Zanku?"**

**Himiko eyes started tearing as she continued "I heard Zanku was an executioner who beheaded criminals in the empire's prison. Lately, he went crazy and left his post in prison. Now, he is going on a rampage, killing people randomly every night, he beheaded them in mad bloodlust ….. Last night, he killed Siri. She was a good person and had never harmed anyone, yet she was beheaded by that mad monster."**

**Garou watched as Himiko was crying openly, he didn't say any kind words to her, he simply asked "does Zanku kill people every night?"**

**Himiko while sobbing nodded weakly, Garou said "Very well, tonight I'm taking this bastard down."**

**He stood up and left the room, he wasn't someone who talked nicely to people or tried to support them emotionally, he was someone who knew how to use his fist and violence. In his eyes, words are empty, only through actions you can show your true intentions.**

* * *

**The night came fast, Garou left the orphanage and went around scouting the capital streets, He was looking for Zanku, but he didn't know how he looked. He hoped he would be able to catch him while doing the kill or better, be attacked by him. Probably, Garou was the only person in the whole capital who wished to be attacked by Zanku.**

**Garou roamed the streets for hours when he heard the sound of clashing weapons coming from a distance. Thanks to his keen senses, he could listen to and locate the exact source of sounds from far distances, which regular people won't be able to even hear them.**

**Garou headed to the source at full speed, the source was an open area in the middle of the Capital market. Once he arrived, he saw a bloodied young man on the ground, while a raven-haired girl, who seemed to be his age, fighting a tall blond man. Similarly, the girl and the blond noticed his arrival, followed by the injured one.**

**"Hoh! We have more people to kill, how great hahaha" The blond said.**

**Garou walked toward the three slowly, he spoke to the blond while ignoring the other two "Zanku, I assume?"**

**"That's right, and you are? Are you from Nightraid as well?" Zanku asked**

**"Nightraid? The assassins group? Nah, I don't work with such garbage, I would feel insulted to be associated with them" Garou did hear about Nightraid and their actions, but he didn't know them or meet them before, or he thought. He continued "You can call me Garou!"**

**Zanku laughed hearing Garou, the guy before him insulted the assassins who were present here, and what made it even more fun, this guy didn't seem to know them despite how famous they are, especially the girl.**

**On the other hand, the injured assassins gulped upon hearing Garou. When he first arrived, he had a crazy thought this man being the same Garou who beat his friends badly as he had red hair and wore clothes similar to Bulat's stolen clothes. He prayed he was not the same guy. Otherwise, they are really in deep trouble. And just a moment later, his prays and hopes shattered, he was the same guy !.**

**On the other hand, the girl tightened her grip on her sword, this was the one who harmed her friends so severely days ago. She wanted to attack him, but she calmed herself, the guy didn't seem to know her, and if she was lucky enough, she might be able to land a slash on him without fighting. His strength should make him a terrifying opponent in frontal clash.**

**"Oh, you seem in a good mood today! Laughing and smiling all happily. That's actually great, I want to see your face once I'm done with you" Garou gave a maniacal smile matching Zanku's.**

**Zanku laughed madly as he replied, "So you are an avenger, who did I kill? Your father, mother or maybe lover hehehehe."**

**Garou replied "I'm not here for revenge."**

**Zanku replied "Heh ! Are you here to play hero?"**

**Zanku's words made Garou stop smiling, he replied grimly "I'm no hero. I'm here for retribution !"**

**The air around Garou changed alerting Zanku, Zanku became serious as he felt uncomfortable under Garou's devastating gaze, he felt as if he was the prey of a monster, a prey that had no choice but to surrender before the mighty predator.**

**On the other hand, Akame and Tatsumi felt the danger pouring from Garou. Even though they heard from their friends about him, meeting him in person is a whole different experience. To think someone could give such a feeling, just how powerful was he?**

**"You are quite scary, aren't you? But don't think you can intimidate me, my teigu is Spectator, it allows me to read your mind and see the future hahaha."**

**Garou gave a cruel smile and said "Putting aside the stupid fact that you just told me what you can do, Such a petty toy won't save you from me. Why don't you read my mind and see for yourself ?!"**

**Zanku felt something was wrong, he activated his teigu to see Garou's thoughts, he immediately widened his eyes and took a step back. A look of terror flashed his eyes. Akame and Tatsumi noticed the change.**

**"Tell me, what dark future you saw, or maybe you didn't see any ?" Garou smiled cruelly at Zanku.**

**"What the heck was that?! Do you see the future ?" Zanku asked, getting Akame and Tatsumi's attention.**

**What Zanku saw was himself and all possible reactions he could do to counter Garou's attack and all of them ended in his defeat. What terrified him that these thoughts and reactions were what Garou's mind calculated. Some of them were something he never thought to do. What's worse, every way he used to counter usually was within these calculations. Zanku felt as if he was an open book in front of Garou.**

**Garou didn't reply, he walked slowly toward Zanku while keeping his usual smile. Zanku thought of running, but he didn't have confidence in outrunning Garou. In Garou's mind, Zanku's speed was relatively slow and giving his back to him was not a good idea.**

**Zanku could only think in one counter at this moment, his teigu eye opened wide as he stared at Garou. Garou stopped moving, and his smile disappeared, making Zanku laugh again "You might be strong, but in the end, those you love is your downfall."**

**Zanku charged toward Garou, it was his chance to finish Garou. However, out of his expectation, Garou moved forward and punched him with a terrifying force. Zanku wanted to block, but the punch was too fast heading toward his face. In an instant, Zanku was flying back at full speed, his face disfigured, Garou's punch dented his whole face to the inside.**

**"I told you, your petty toy won't work against me. The old jeezer is far faster and stronger than this, at the very least he could have blocked such a weak punch !" Garou stated calmly. Truthfully, he didn't expect such a trick, but it was still nowhere enough to stop him.**

**Suddenly, Garou raised his hand and caught a hand holding a sword. It was the raven-haired one, she attempted to slash him when he was focused on Zanku. Garou gave the blade a look, he felt it was dangerous for some reason, and it would be bad to be touched by it. He looked toward the girl and said "What do you think yourself doing?"**


	13. weaklings

"What do you think yourself doing?" Garou said as he looked at Akame with annoyance.

Instead of answering Garou's question, Akame struggled to free herself from Garou's grip. When she realised she couldn't free herself, she jumped with a kicking motion, she was aiming for Garou's head.

Garou didn't dodge the kick and took the kick right in the face. Akame was surprised that he didn't attempt to block or avoid, but her surprised increased as she realised her kick did no damage to Garou. He stood there like a mountain, rooted in his place.

Akame wanted to send another kick. But, she stopped when she noticed Garou's eyes, his eyes were narrowed as he looked at her with annoyance mixed with anger, she could feel her heart skip a beat. Only now, she truly understood Leone's words, she initially thought Garou was intimidating and dangerous. However, she underestimated how dangerous Garou truly is.

On the other hand, Garou wasn't happy with Akame suddenly attacking him, he came here for Zanku, and a gloomy chick appeared before him with a katana that gave him a feel of danger. What's worse, the girl kicked him right in the face when he tried to speak like any civilised person.

With the current situation, Garou did what he does best, he resorted to violence. He let go of Akame while sending a punch at the same time, he didn't wish to waste more time on them.

Akame being free and seeing the incoming punch, she jumped to the back while using her hands to shield herself from the blow. When the punch hit her, she was sent flying dozens of meters and landed near Zanku. She looked at her arm protector with pained and shocked expression. Her steel arm protector was dented to the point of being unusable with a single punch from Garou. Both of her arms went numb. Such a punch is definitely stronger even than Leone's punch.

Similarly to Akame, Garou was slightly shocked, not to the extent of Akame's shock. He was shocked that she managed to move fast enough and block the punch saving her from being injured and knocked down. He didn't use his full strength in that punch, but the power he put was still something that most of the strong warriors wouldn't be able to block nor react to.

Akame raised her sword toward Garoua taking another stance, she knew her opponent was extremely dangerous and chances of winning were slim. However, she still not going to give up so easily.

Akame was about to attack again when she felt a hand grabbing her foot, she looked down and saw Zanku, who was still lying on the ground, extended his caught her. Akame was entirely focused on Garou that she forgot about Zanku. Moreover, she didn't even realise she was standing right next to him.

Akame in fast and decisive manner slashed Zanku's hand. Her weapon's poison started spreading through Zanku's body, forcing him to cough and growl painfully before dying.

Garou narrowed his eyes at this sight, he saw the girl slashing then some weird symbol appearing on Zanku killing him. Garou immediately concluded the sword was either poisoned or has a specific property that kill who touches the blade. That explained the danger he felt earlier. He needed to be a little wary of the blade.

"Killing him like that when he could not even stand, was it satisfying?" Garou asked. He didn't appreciate fighting opponents who couldn't fight back not alone, killing them.

"He was a target… and I eliminated him" Akame to the first time replying before retaking her stance.

Garou didn't speak, he narrowed his eyes slightly then walked toward Akame. On the other hand, Akame took a deep breath then charged forward. She slashed with all the strength she had toward Garou's neck.

Like before, Garou extended his hand and caught Akame's hand, but this time Akame dropped the sword from her hand and caught it with the other one then continued her slash. Garou, who saw her action snorted slightly and used his other hand to catch Akame's.

Again, Akame was caught by Garou with no way out of his hold. She tried to struggle, but Garou wasn't merciful like the first time. He kneed her viciously forcing her to drop the sword and lower her entire body. If not for Garou holding her, she would have fallen on the ground.

Garou was still not satisfied, he pulled Akame up then kneed her again, causing her to cough blood. He then let go of her hands as one of his arms extended toward her head. His hand clawed around her head. He used her head as a handle to raise her entire body in the air before slamming her down.

Garou's slam caused the ground to crack as part of Akame's body was imprinted in the ground. Garou let go of Akame after the last blow as she stopped all kinds of movements. He knew she won't be able to walk for a while, let alone fighting.

Garou thought about breaking a few more bones before leaving. But he stopped when he felt a movement behind him. He turned around and saw the injured young man standing while pointing his sword toward him.

He was obviously wounded and tired. Moreover, he could see the fear painting the young man face, he was slightly shaking. Garou whistled a little and said, "Do you want to receive your share of beating ?"

Tatsumi took a step back and gulped in fear as he felt every hair on his body standing on its own. Tatsumi shook his head and said with determination, "I know I can't beat you, but I will not retreat and let you harm my friend more. "

Tatsumi Gathered all the courage he had and attacked. Garou laughed a little before taking two steps toward Tatsumi. He punched with a lighting speed hitting Tatsumi right in the face, effectively knocking him out.

Once he finished dealing with the idiots, he turned around and went back to the orphan.

Few minutes later, Mine alongside Shelee arrived at the location of the battle. The two were shocked, two of their friends lying on the ground. The two rushed toward them to check their state.

* * *

Hours later inside Nightraid's hideout, Tatsumi, who is his face bandaged like a mummy, was sitting with the other members, except for the boss and Akame, telling them what happened.

"So even you and Akame suffered under his hands, lucky for you, he didn't hit you a lot" Leone commented.

Tatsumi shivered slightly, he only had his nose broken. In comparison to the others including Akame, he barely received any damage.

"So, how is Akame now?" Leone turned to Shelee and asked

"She will be fine. But it will take some time before healing completely. She had a broken rib and scratches and bruises covering her body. The slam broke her nose and bruised other parts of her bodies" Shelee replied.

"What should we do now? This is the second time we lose to him" A purple face Bulat asked.

"Let's wait Najenda for now! We can't go and face that monster head on" Lubbock added from the side, his words earned the agreement of everyone.

* * *

In the forest around the capital, Garou was looking around and hunting his food. He didn't bother or care about the consequences of his actions.

He didn't even know that he fought with an infamous group of assassins more than once and got their full attention. If someone warned him, Garou would probably laugh hard before ignore these kind of warnings.

In Garou's mind, those he fought so far were nothing but a group of weaklings.


	14. My Meat!

"Garou had been living peacefully for the past few days. Eating, hunting and training had become his routine. Currently, he was in the middle of woods training, practising his martial arts stances, techniques, and movements. He had been training intensely for the past 2 hours. Garou stopped momentarily looking down at his hands only to frown.

"Since I came to this world, I barely felt any improvement in my strength and my skills are still the same. That won't do ! At this rate, I would need years to reach my previous strength when I became a full monster. "Garou grumbled to himself in frustration.

Clenching his fists as he continued, "If I want to improve faster, I will need to find strong opponents. But where should I look? DAMN IT! Most of the trash I've faced so far have been below the level of most of the S class heroes I faced back home."

Garou decided to head back, he decided he would look for information about the strongest fighter in the empire later on. Hopefully, they would be stronger than those weaklings he'd faced up until now.

_

Inside the orphanage, Himiko had a broad smile as she watched the children jumping around excitedly as each of them just received a new set of clothes which made them really happy.

Since Garou's arrival, the children and Himiko didn't have to sleep with empty stomachs or work gruelling hours just to receive a tiny portion of food. And now, they managed to buy new clothes for everyone thanks to Garou's overhunting. The meat and inedible remnants of animals and danger beasts sold for a good price. With the money obtained, they even had enough to fix the decrepit orphanage.

Himiko was extremely grateful to Garou and happy with his company. Her first impression of him was that of a bloody demon. She was genuinely terrified of him and didn't dare to look directly at him in fear of his anger. When he decided to stay with them in the orphanage, she nearly cried in fear. Fear for both herself and for the children's imminent bleak end. Now, she felt truly stupid for thinking like that.

Garou had only acted violently in the first place for their sake. Yet, she thought of him as a demon. A thought that made her really ashamed of herself. She wouldn't say she understood Garou completely, but she knew him enough to speak confidently he wasn't a bad guy. In fact, he was a pretty decent guy with a terrifying face.

Himiko would feel pity and sadness for Garou, his life must be hard with that scary face of his. She even believed the reason for his violent temper and seemingly always in a bad mood because of that. He must have suffered throughout the entirety of his life, which also contributed to his immense strength and skill in battle.

In her mind, Garou was now a good-hearted young man with a scary-looking face that made him look like a middle-aged man.

"Hey, Himiko!" Garou's call pulled Himiko from her thoughts.

"I'm going to take a shower, take my clothes for cleaning," Garou said

Himiko nodded to Garou slightly as she looked at him. She couldn't help but think about Garou's body. She had to admit that his body was perfect, his body was by far the best she had ever seen. She blushed slightly thinking about it, as she remembered watching him training with his upper body being naked.

The children who saw her blushing slightly started whistling and laughing, earning her attention. "Himiko loves Garou ! Himiko loves Garou" The children sang while laughing.

Himiko's face instantly turned bright red as she screamed in embarrassment "No, I don't! Stop messing around or no dinner for you tonight !"

The children stopped singing but continued laughing, much to Himiko's anger.

_

The next day, Garou was prepared to go out on his morning hunt when he was stopped by Himiko "Garou I need you to come with me today to the market. I need you to help me carrying the merchandise" Himiko said

"Take the children with you" Garou replied

"It is too heavy for them. Besides, you would get to eat tastier food if we bought everything I needed today" Himiko said with a sly smile.

Garou frowned slightly but still agreed to her request.

Hours later, Garou was standing in the middle of the street market. The people who congregated there were frightened away by his intimidating presence, almost as though he was a scarecrow. He was one of those who would never regret the consequences of their actions regardless of the result. But now he did, he had been shopping with Himiko for hours, that woman entered and bought from almost every shop, and now she went to buy some kitchen tools and spices and asked Garou to wait for her. He had been waiting for at least 15 minutes which angered him to no end.

Moments later frightened residents came running out of the store Himiko had entered. "The 3 beasts came back! They are causing trouble with everyone they see!" one man yelled. "we gotta get out of here. We don't want to be caught by them. Especially that cruel giant, Daidara!" another man stammered. Garou heard others around him talking about the 3 beasts and the trouble they were causing. All of the talk had a similar theme, they are dangerous and should be avoided.

Garou thought of Himiko and possibility of her being caught by them. He decided to check on her, so he picked up the goods they bought earlier which were lying on the ground near where he stood, and moved toward the shop Himiko entered earlier. Moments later, Garou found Himiko. She was sitting on the ground crying while a giant man stomped on broken jars in front of her while laughing loudly. Behind the giant, a middle-aged man with long grey hair and what appeared to be little boy were standing wearing similar clothes. The middle-aged man was smiling lightly while the short one was laughing loudly and pointing the surviving pieces to the giant. Seeing the situation unfolding, Garou walked calmly toward Himiko and spoke earning her attention "Himiko, What the hell happened here?"

Himiko looked at Garou and sobbed "I bumped into them when I wasn't paying attention. They said they would make me pay and smashed everything I just bought."

Garou narrowed his eyes and said "that's fine just buy replacements"

The giant laughed as he said "Hahaha …. Well looks like we got a sensible and brave one here" earning smirks from his companions.

Garou and Himiko ignored them as Himiko said "But these were the last of these spices in stock. This was the only store in town that carried them. I won't be able to repurchase them till next week!"

Garou widened his eyes and asked hastily "wait, you mean the special spices you need to cook the meat ?!" and Himiko nodded lightly.

Garou dropped all the goods he was carrying and turned toward the three. The three beasts felt a violent and dreadful aura locked onto them. It was similar to their general but far more intense. It was as if every fibre of their being screamed danger all at once.

"Good, very good ! You three useless maggots ruined my menu for the coming week. When I'm done with you, you will be regretting being born in this world ! Not even your own mothers will recognize you !" Garou said with a tone radiating with malice and threatening for a horrific end.

It was at this moment, the three beasts knew they'd fucked up big this time.

Edited  
-B33RUS


	15. Weird News

Weird News

Inside the imperial palace, A young and gorgeous woman was walking through the hallway. She wore white clothes accented with black, her long blue hair matched her eyes perfectly.

Her steps were slow-paced, giving a feeling of confidence and strength. Those who didn't know who she was would be attracted to her and might try to court her at first sight.

The woman entered a vast room, where a fat middle-aged man was setting at the side of the dining table. The man was munching away at meat of some sort gleefully, even though it still appeared to be raw.

"Hello prime minister, it has been a while," the woman said as she continued her approach table as the man continued eating.

"Oh general Esdeath, Welcome back, congratulations on your victory in the north. Hope the battle and the north hero were good enough to entertain you" the prime minister said.

"It was enjoyable, but the fabled 'hero of the north' was nothing special. I don't know how that weakling got his reputation. At least I had the chance to torture thousands, I even learned new torture methods" Easdeath replied with a slight smile.

The prime minister looked at the sweet woman before him and shivered slightly. If not for him being sure this sadistic woman would never betray him given that he provided her with people to satisfy her sadistic hobbies, he would have never dared to sit in the same room with her.

"Excellent news, general! Now that you are done from dealing with the north. You can focus more on the issues inside the capital city" The prime minister said before continuing with his meal.

"I assume you mean night raid?" Esdeath said

"Correct, these rats started to become really annoying. They are killing our allies inside the capital city. Moreover, just a few weeks ago they assassinated my dear cousin" The prime minister said as his face contorted with rage.

Esdeath smiled slightly as her hand extended to a wine cup on the table. Sipping from it, she said "It seems my old friend Najenda has been active while I was away."

"Right again, General! Now that you are here, we will finally get rid of these vermins" The prime minister said in sinister anticipation.

"Since first hearing about them, I already had a plan to dispose of them" Esdeath replied confidently.

"Oh! That's great, I would like to hear this plan of yours Esdeath. The prime minister said with a cruel smile then took another bite.

Esdeath was about to reply when the door was knocked, she frowned slightly at the interruption. Looking toward the door, she spoke "Enter."

A soldier came in, the man stood with a mix of fear and respect while Esdeath said coldly, "I said not to interrupt me when I'm sitting with the prime minister. For your own sake, this had better be important."

The soldier gulped and said "I'm sorry, General, but I have to report news regarding the defeat of the three beasts."

"hmm? Very well then, speak" Esdeath said.

* * *

At the same time, in Night raid hideout. Everyone with the except of Lubbock and Sheele who was now dead were sitting in the dining hall eating their lunch, when a frantic lubbock burst through the doors.

"You're late, I was about to eat your share" joked Leone.

"No time for your jokes ! I have important news" Lubbock said hurriedly.

"Let's hear it then" Najenda ordered

"Esdeath and her 3 beasts have returned..." Lubbock said to surprise everyone with the except of clueless Tatsumi. All the assassins became serious upon hearing that name. "Ummm… who is Esdeath? I've heard you mention her before" Tatsumi said

"Huh?! Country bumpkin through and through!" Mine said disdainfully. Tatsumi was both angry and embarrassed upon hearing her words.

"Tatsumi, Esdeath is one of the empire's generals, and the one claimed to be the Empire's strongest warrior" Bulat said

"Right, That woman is by far the most dangerous enemy we have in the empire. In fact, one of the reasons we don't dare to attack the empire directly is her. That woman by herself is as powerful as an army! Moreover, under her command, a relatively small army consisting of the best of the best. It was said her army could defeat hundreds of thousands easily" Najenda said grimly.

"I thought she would take longer to return since she was attacking the north. Did the north really fall so fast?" Leone said with a distraught tone.

"This isn't all of the news, there's more" Lubbock said from the side.

The assassins looked back at Lubbock who continued "Her three beasts went to take a walk in the capital's streets..."

"Ummm…?" Tatsumi again interrupted them with an embarrassed look

The assassins sighed while Bulat said "They are the most loyal soldiers she had in her army. They would only listen to her and only her. Moreover, all three of them are bloody sadistic monsters who carry strong Teigus."

Tatsumi nodded while Lubbock continued "As I was saying, they went to take a walk. However, unfortunately for them, their walk ended with all of them being beaten to the brink of death. They won't be able to leave the hospital for days" Lubbock was about to laugh remembering the details.

"What !? How!" Najenda asked the other assassins had similar shocked look covering their faces.

"...because they ran into Garou" Lubbock shivered slightly when mentioned the name.

* * *

Back in the palace, Esdeath wore a similarly stunned expression "Encountered red-haired man ?!" Esdeath asked. "Yes General, they all said he beat them with his bare hands" The soldier confirmed. "Was this man part of Night raid?" The prime minister asked from the side

"I'm not sure sir, but I think he is not as he didn't kill them. If he was, why wouldn't he have killed them? He just brutalized them publicly." The soldier stated.

"How and why the fight started?" Esdeath asked, interest having been piqued.

"According to the eyewitnesses, the three sirs bumped into a woman in a shop who was in their way and broke her spice jars. She then began crying, and that's when he appeared and spoke with the woman. Once he knew the jars were broken and they wouldn't be able to buy until the next week, he exploded with rage and attacked" The soldier said not believing his own words. Who would attack the three beasts over a few worthless jars?

Both the prime minister and Esdeath stared at the soldier with mouths agape, Esdeath's appearing to be opened wider.

"Is this some kind of a joke? It won't go unpunished !" Esdeath shouted angrily as she didn't like the idea of a lowly soldier attempting to play jokes with her.

"No! I swear general, it is the truth." the soldier stammered in fear.

"Then tell me, what is the state of Liver and the rest" Esdeath ordered

"Sir Liver suffered a few bruises, and the bones of his right hand were crushed. His hair was torn out of his scalp violently. Most of his ribs are broken as well. Sir Nyau had his flute inserted ... in his … rear while his head was buried ….. in sir Diadara's ass. Sir Diadara had it the worst, however, aside from sir Nyau's head, his face is unrecognizable as his nose, jaw, and all of his teeth broke. Also, both of his arms were snapped in numerous places and tied into a knot." The Soldier was fearful as he spoke. He didn't know how Esdeath would react to his words. The injuries of two of the beasts were too shameful to be said. And seeing the stunned faces before him, the soldier felt like crying.

Esdeath kept staring with a weird expression, she didn't know how she should react, for she had never faced or heard of something like that.

After seconds of silence which seemed years for the poor soldier, Esdeath spoke "Such ruthless and humiliating methods! Impressive! I would like to meet this person !"

Esdeath was smiling madly as she spoke, the soldiers shivered while the prime minister started coughing. The Prime Minister looked at Esdeath as a terrifying thought passed through his head. A male version of Esdeath laughing wildly as he tortured people alongside Esdeath. One sadistic freak was already too much for his weak heart !

* * *

In Night raid's hideout, the assassins were looking weirdly at each other.

"It might seem weird and illogical considering they are our enemies and we should be happy for their misfortune, but I sympathize with them. No one deserves to encounter Garou !" Bulat said as he shivered remembering how Garou handled him.

The other assassins who had the misfortune of meeting Garou face to face, even Akame nodded in agreement. While Najenda face palmed seeing their reaction. She didn't know whether to laugh or be angry.

Edited by B33RUS


	16. Invitation

Invitation

Garou's days continued to pass without change, he kept his simple routine every day. But with the passing time, he started to grow more and more frustrated. He couldn't find a single worthy opponent to give him a challenge.

Thanks to that, his skills and strength barely increased. His training helped to keep himself in shape but couldn't improve.

Garou knew that he needed to have life and death battles to improve but didn't know where to look. He heard about the imperial generals being the strongest warriors but looking at how powerless the soldiers and warriors he saw so far, he didn't feel motivated to seek them out. He didn't want to find more trash thinking themselves to be a great warrior when they are in reality a little stronger than an ant.

What Garou didn't know is that his exploits got the attention of both the revolutionary army and the empire's strongest. The revolutionary spies spent the past few weeks digging information about him and his origin. Similarly, Esdeath's soldiers and servants were looking to his whereabouts. The revolutionary spies found Garou's location first but didn't dare to approach him recklessly as they couldn't find anything about him aside from where he had been staying. On the other hand, Esdeath's soldiers took much more time to find him as their only lead was a red-haired man.

In the imperial palace, Esdeath was kneeling in the crown hall in front of a young boy, who was sitting on the throne, beside him the prime minister eating his meat without care for the world.

"General Esdeath, You have done a splendid job in defending the empire and erasing threats. We wish to give you a reward for your achievements" The young boy spoke with a proud voice, trying his best to be a fitting emperor.

"I thank your majesty for your generosity. If I may, I have two requests for you" Esdeath spoke with a humble smile.

"Please speak General, as long as your requests within our capabilities they shall be granted" The young emperor said.

"First, I wish to form a special team of Teigu users, they would be directly under my command and answer directly to me" Esdeath said.

The young emperor wondered a little then asked "Why are you requesting this? Don't you have 3 elites with teigus under your command."

"True, but the three proved to be inadequate lately as they got defeated by an unarmed commoner" Esdeath answered honestly.

"An ordinary citizen defeated them? How could that be?" The young emperor asked, surprised by what he heard.

"According to many eyewitnesses, a single red-haired man defeated them with his bare hands. Thus I decided to create a new team, it won't be sufficient to use soldiers who couldn't defeat an unarmed man! For this reason, as well, I sent the three on a mission. If they failed it, then only death awaits them" Esdeath spoke with a cruel smile.

"General Esdeath wishes to create this team so she can eliminate Night Raid once and for all. Having a small agile team of elites is the best course of action" The prime minister added from the side.

The emperor hearing his minister words nodded his head and said "Your first request shall be granted, you can ask for any soldier to join your team. Also, we will send people to get the best of the best of the empire's soldiers to join you. We hope to see the best of results."

"I will not disappoint you" Esdeath spoke with confidence.

"But I'm still curious general, who is the man who defeated your three beasts?" The emperor asked

"We don't have much information about him. Our spies only managed to find out that his name is Garou and he has been staying in an orphanage since he arrived to the empire's capital weeks ago. According to those who interacted with him, despite being few, they all agreed that he looked like a country bumpkin as he was looking around curiously. But he possessed immense strength and skill, allowing him to defeat the police and my soldiers effortlessly ." Esdeath replied.

"How are you going to handle him?" The minister asked.

"I was thinking to check his background first, if he is not part of the revolutionary army or affiliated with our enemies I will recruit him as a member of my special team" Esdeath replied.

The prime minister nodded while the young emperor said "Very well general, what about your second request?"

"I wish to fall in love" Esdeath spoke with a straight face.

The prime minister and the emperor stared at Esdeath quizzically, especially the minister who couldn't believe a sadistic monster like her could know love.

"Ummm... What you expect us to do exactly ?" The young emperor asked, he didn't know how to answer such a request, he didn't even understand love himself.

"I would like you to help me search for a suitable man" Esdeath answered.

The young emperor pondered a little then looked at his minister and spoke "What about the prime minister? He is a great man !"

The prime minister paled thinking about the possibility of him sleeping with Esdeath, he had no doubt she will kill him once she done with him similarly to how some insects kill their mate after their breeding session.

"hmm... I would prefer someone less fat, not to mention he is too old for me" Esdeath spoke with an amused look as she watched the pale minister regain his colours.

"Is that so?" The young emperor spoke with pity as if the two could be a great match.

On the other hand, the prime minister spoke hurriedly "Tell us your preference, and we will look for men who match it throughout the empire."

Esdeath started describing her vision of a suitable man, the emperor kept nodding for her words while the prime minister stared at her questioningly. The more she spoke the perplexed his face became, The prime minister had no doubt that if they searched the whole empire and the nearby countries, they would not find such a match.

* * *

The next day, Garou was eating alongside the children and Himiko, when he suddenly sneezed.

"It seems you caught a cold Garou. This is the third time you sneeze in a minute" Himiko said

"Don't be silly! I don't catch colds. There must be someone talking badly about me" Garou said grumpily.

Himiko shook her head at his antics while the children laughed. What they didn't know is that far away at sea, on the top of a ship, A life and death battle between night raid and the 3 beasts was occurring.

"So you have met that red-haired bastard, Bulat?" Liver spoke with an angry face. He was currently half bald thanks to Garou.

"That's right, I met Garou. My current appearance is his handy work" Bulat spoke with a little resentment. The previously handsome man looked like a grotesque beggar now. Garou's fists reshaped his face thoroughly. Even if Bulat walked in the capital, none would realise who he is.

"Bulat, let's make a warrior oath here. Whoever survives today, must take revenge for what he did to us should an opportunity arise." Liver spoke seriously.

"Normally, I wouldn't make oaths with my enemies. But you have my word. If I survive today, I will take revenge if I can" Bulat spoke sincerely.

Liver nodded and gave his words before the death battle continued.

Back in the orphanage, Garou was still eating when a knock came from the orphanage front door. Himiko stood while saying "I'll get it."

Moments later, Himiko came back with a soldier. She said "Umm... Garou, he's here for you"

Garou looked at the soldier, his cold sharp gaze caused the soldier to shiver. Garou spoke "Are you going to stare all day? What do you want?"

The soldier stuttered "S-sir, I'm…. Sorry for ... bothering you. M-my general gave me … thi-ss letter to han-d it ...to you-u"

The soldier extended his shaking hand with a letter, Garou took the letter from him and said "this is the part where you run away."

The soldier ran in fear, while Himiko and the children began laughing. Ari kept laughing as she said "Poor Garou, his face scares everyone."

Garou Ignored them as he opened the letter, he frowned a little before giving it to Himiko. He then said "I can't read these scribbles, read it for me."

Himiko was shocked, "How do you not know how to read?" she said.

"Just read it !" Garou said, slightly agitated.

"Okay okay. But I'm teaching you how to read and write later" Himiko replied

Garou stared at her with an annoyed expression without saying any words. Himiko sighed and read the letter.

* * *

Sir Garou,

This is an invitation for you to join a special elite team under the command of general Esdeath. The team will answer to General Esdeath directly and won't have any military responsibilities toward the army. We look forward to you joining us.

The meeting will be in the imperial palace in xxxx at xx:xx:xx xx-xx-xxxx

* * *

Himiko was surprised by the content, she looked at Garou and asked "What are you going to do? General Esdeath is the greatest general in the empire and said to be the strongest."

"Not interested" Garou deadpanned with a slight frown.

Himiko wanted to say something but Garou had already left the room. She sighed in relief before going off to wash the dishes.

Edited by B33RUS


	17. Shocked Twice

Shocked Twice

The next day of Esdeath's team gathering day, Seryu was walking alongside her weapon/companion Koro in the imperial capital's streets with a rare sharp face. She proceeded toward the orphanage where Garou had been staying. Seryu's eyes were shining with determination as if she was going to a life and death battle.

Moments later, Seryu reached the orphanage and stood silently in front of it. Her eyes showed hesitation at first then determination and then back again. She stood in front of the orphanage apprehensively for some time until she heard a voice coming from her behind.

"Why are you here?"

Seryu jumped in surprise as she recognized the owner, his voice never left her mind since she encountered him last, not to mention she came here to look for him. Seryu turned around slowly to meet the terrifying gaze. Beside her Koro, her Teigu showed slight fear toward the man. This man was probably the only human out there able to scare the little beast.

"Hello Garou, its been a while." Seryu said stiffly.

"Yeah, yeah… What do you want?" Garou asked again disregarding Seryu civilized words.

"Can't I visit a friend?" Seryu asked awkwardly.

"Last time I checked, you wanted to kill me for your so-called 'justice' while I was thinking about eating your pet. As far as I know, this sounds more like enemies than friends, right?" Garou spoke coldly.

Seryu lowered her head a little and said "I'm sorry for what I did last time! I really am, it just I thought you attacked and harmed innocent people, I didn't know what they had done."

"Whatever, what are you here for? You wouldn't have come here just to apologize since you could have done it ages ago." Garou inquired.

"Well…. I heard from the general you were also invited to join her elite team, but you didn't come, so I'm here to find out why you didn't attend the meeting?" Seryu asked with hesitation.

"Why the hell should I? I don't want to be part of the army or the police" Garou retorted casually.

Seryu blinked in surprise and said "you wouldn't be a soldier or a policeman. You would join a special team to fight for justice against the forces of evil. You would be more like a hero !"

Garou's golden eyes narrowed dangerously at her causing her to flinch, he said coldly "That's even worse ! I'm not interested, and I'm not joining. This is final, you can leave now."

Seryu looked at Garou silently with sorrow, which caused the latter to feel slightly confused at the girl's reaction. He expected her to leave or maybe get angry but to be sad over this? He now didn't understand what was going on.

"Why? Why you don't want to join us?! You are strong! Very strong. With you on the side of justice, good people won't have to die anymore" Seryu begged.

Garou kept his cold stare as replied "I simply don't care…. And why do you want me to join in the first place?"

Seryu's eyes started tearing as she spoke with a choked face "Because that is what my teacher, Ogre wanted. He wanted you to join us and help us protect justice !"

Garou frowned at her and said with sarcasm "That evil-looking man wanted me to fight for justice ?!"

Seryu exploded with anger as she pointed her guns at Garou "MY TEACHER WAS NOT EVIL ! HE LIVED AND DIED FOR JUSTICE ! HE IS THE GREATEST MAN I HAVE EVER KNOWN ….. He wished you to join us before his death, I just want to fulfil his wish"

Garou was surprised by her outburst, he kept staring at her without silently. On the other hand, Seryu started crying before running away with Koro following behind her.

Garou's eyes followed Seryu as his face showed bewilderment, once she disappeared from his sight, he spoke to himself, "That old bastard was definitely scum, rotten to his very core. But somehow, in her eyes, he turned out to be an angel! What the fuck was wrong with her? The fucker had single black and red eye staring sinisterly at everything, if not for this world not having monsters, I would have thought he was about to turn into a one!"

Garou's continued to contemplate with himself as part of him felt slight pity for Seryu. In his eyes, her she transcended beyond the realm stupidity. At the end, he threw his thoughts to the back of his mind as he walked inside.

* * *

Later the same day, it was lunchtime. It was the only time when all the residents of the orphanage would gather. It was Garou's favourite time as he enjoyed eating, to him eating a delicious meal was as good as having a decent spar.

"Hey, Garou! Look at this"

Garou looked toward Eren who was carrying a poster, next to him his sister Ari. The two of them were looking very excited as their eyes danced between Garou and the poster.

"What is it ?" Garou asked

"This is the announcement of a tournament. The best fighters of the empire will join to fight for the prize" Eren said excitedly.

Garou gleamed with interest, he didn't care much about the tournament prize. Still, the thought of him fighting against other martial artists and strong warriors excited him a little. His life had become too dull since his arrival.

"What is the main prize ?" Himiko asked Eren.

"It says 50,000 gold coin. In addition to that, the winner will have the chance to join the army as a high ranking officer as long as he proves himself to be a great warrior !" Eren said excitedly as he stared at Garou. In his eyes, Garou was the strongest person out there, no one could ever match Garou's might.

"50,000! SO MUCH! You have to win this tournament. Otherwise, I won't cook for you again" Himiko said seriously as her eyes shone with a golden light.

Garou was shocked for the second time today. The shy woman he had known for weeks turned into this so suddenly at the mention of money! Did greed destroy her enough of her brain's cells to threaten him?!

Regardless of his thoughts, Garou still nodded as he wondered if the people of this world were all just slightly retarded.

"The tournament going to be tomorrow !" Ari on side added but Garou didn't hear her.

* * *

The next day, three members of night raid were walking toward the stadium. They were Tatsumi, Lubbock and Leone.

"I'm not sure about this. Aiming to receive a prize from our enemy is really weird to me" Tatsumi said in a low voice.

"What is weird about it? Their money ending in our hand is better than leaving it for them" Lubbock commented.

"Besides you are sending the money home to your village. Think only about that and forget about anything else" Leone added

Tatsumi nodded to them as he walked toward the stadium. He was going to fight without his Teigu today. Still, he wasn't worried as he knew the past 3 months of hard training under his friends made him far stronger than any run of the mill warrior in the empire.

However, his confidence was shattered minutes later as he stared at the distance with a pale face, his two friends beside him wore similar expressions. They saw someone they truly wished to not see ever again. Garou was their standing in front of the register window. He was going to participate today!

What terrified them even more, as if Garou sensed their gazes, he turned around and looked directly toward them. Once he saw them, he gave them a maniacal smile that promised them pain and misery. It was only for a moment before Garou walked in, ignoring the three assassins.

"I changed my mind, I'm not joining. With that monster inside, isn't it just plain suicide to go in ?!" Tatsumi stammered with a shaking voice, he was terrified of the possibility of facing Garou one on one, even a team of assassins with their Taigues could do anything to Garou, what could he do? It was plain suicide. The other two killers didn't mind their friend's fear, even the two of them wouldn't dare to go against that monster head-on, much less without their weapons.

"Forget about joining the tournament, the winner is already set. Let's go to the seats and watch. We might find something useful about him" Lubbock suggested. The other two nodded and headed toward the seats.

* * *

Inside, Garou was standing with the other participants. He was thinking about the three he saw earlier.

"So that's why that girl attacked me that night. It was not for the pathetic trash of a police force but for these bandits!" Garou mumbled to himself.

He knew why he was attacked last time. But in truth, he still didn't care about it.

Edited by B33RUS


	18. Garou Meets Esdeath

Garou Meets Esdeath

Wave was an optimistic young man, he spent all his life near the sea, helping people and protecting them from the sea beasts and pirates. Lately, he had been invited to the empire's capital to join an elite team to fight against the evil threatening the innocents of the empire. He was motivated by his self-righteousness and his kind heart to help everyone in need, especially the people of his own country. A typical good-natured patriot.

He met his new teammates two days ago that said, they weren't exactly what he expected. They were a little weird, but he could see the goodness inside them. He had a feeling that will enjoy his stay with them despite their quirks.

His team consisted of 7 people, including himself. The first was a huge and scary man that terrified him at first, it didn't take long to realise how shy and kind the frightening man was, Wave found it even funnier than the one caused his fear was more afraid than him. He also had a weird emo girl in his team, the girl was obsessed with sweets and seemed hard to approach, but she didn't look like an evil person. She was a little shut-in at most, he also had to admit she was adorable.

There was another girl in the team, she looked slightly older than him and had a cute little pet with her. She looked optimistic and cheerful and your average everyday person, that was at least until the subject of the enemy was mentioned. Wave saw the sweet girl become a crazed maniac with an endless desire to kill, he could feel her palpable bloodlust from a mile away. Such a huge contrast shocked him.

Another quirky teammate and the one who disturbed Wave the most, was a man who called himself Dr Stylish, despite what the name implied the guy was really disturbing…. Wave would shiver every time remembered how the man stared at him. The man's interest in men was truly scary.

There was one more man in his team, this one seemed to be the only sane person without a quirk or crazy behaviour, just a reasonable and friendly person. Wave liked his company the most.

Finally, there was his leader, she was a gorgeous woman, and her strength surpassed her beauty. Her strength, beauty, intelligence and her care for her subordinates made her look like the perfect leader. If not for the maniacal smile occasionally appearing as she thought about gruesome things.

All in all, his life was quite good, he enjoyed his stay in the empire's capital. And today, he was the referee of a tournament funded by his leader to find candidate to join them. He heard there was supposed to be someone else with the name Garou joining them. But the guy ignored the invitation. Wave wondered what kind of person this Garou was. But for now, he had to focus on the tournament at hand.

Wave took a deep breath and approached the arena. While he was walking one of the organisers gave him a paper containing necessary information of the participants such as name and age.

Wave stood in the middle of the arena, he coughed a little gaining the attention of the crowd. He looked at the paper in his hand and shouted, "First round, Hans VS Garou!"

Wave paused as he realised the name he just spoke, he looked down at the paper to make sure he didn't make a mistake. The name was indeed Garou, was it a coincidence?

Wave didn't have time to ponder as the two fighters arrived at the same time to the arena. Wave looked at the first fighter, Hans, he was a huge man with muscular body, the man seemed a decent fighter just by the mass of his body alone.

He then turned to the other side, toward Garou, Wave paused a little upon seeing Garou. Wave looked back at the paper again to check the age once again, he saw the number 18 written there. He looked again at Garou with surprised eyes, was this man really 18 ?!

Wave couldn't help but ask "Umm… Garou, Is your age really 18?"

This question was asked loudly, everyone in the arena heard it, including the night raid members, his teammate, the audience and most importantly his General. Everyone was really shocked, except for Himiko and the children who were laughing thanks to the shocked and confused faces made by everyone around them.

Garou felt really annoyed by this, why was everyone in this world really focusing on his age this much ?! should he just say he is 30 or something like that ?!

Garou's eyes narrowed dangerously at Wave, the instigator of this situation, and said "Yeah, is there a problem?"

Wave felt a shiver running down his spine, this feeling was just like when he was still in the sea when the most gigantic and most dangerous sea beasts eyed him. He could feel the danger emitted by Garou. Wave gulped and took a step back "No, sir !"

"Good, give the signal to get done with this" Garou said coldly.

"18, huh? So you are just a brat You seem quite arrogant, I wonder how will you act once I'm done with you" Hans laughed sinisterly not realising the danger he put himself in.

Garou looked calmly at Hans, but his eyes couldn't help but promise a dreadful end for the guy. On the other hand, Wave felt some pity toward Hans, just by the feeling Garou gave, Wave was more than willing to bet that Garou was someone who shouldn't be messed with. Despite his thoughts, he decided to act professionally and step out of the arena before speaking.

"The two of you get ready …. Start!"

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Garou moved, with unheard speed that barely could be tracked by the human eye, reaching Hans instantly and followed by a barrage of punches which sent Hans toward the wall of the stadium planting effectively in the wall.

It took exactly one second to finish the match, what's more, the audience clearly heard the sound of breaking bones the moment Wave finished saying 'Start'. Except for the night raid members and Himiko and the children, who witnessed Garou's overwhelming strength, everyone was stunned silly by the display of sheer speed and power, the general and her subordinates were also shocked.

Wave who was the closest felt sweat covering his body, if he were the target of Garou's onslaught just now, then his state wouldn't have been any better than that of poor Hans. Wave looked at Hans and felt fear filling his heart, the man's teeth had been smashed out, and his body was reshaped thanks to the powerful punches he received. Wave wondered how many blows the poor guy received, going by the look of his body, he would say 50 punches at the very least.

"Hey, referee!" Garou's voice woke Wave from his thoughts.

"I don't want to waste any more time. Let's get done with this. Bring all the participants here, I will fight them all at once. I will finish this tournament now !"

Garou spoke arrogantly giving such an order. If it were before the match, then everyone in the arena would have laughed at his words and even insulted him, but after seeing his sheer strength and speed. They didn't dare to even open their mouths. As for Garou, he had a hope to fight strong opponents by coming here. But just by looking at these people's standing posture and breathing rhythms, Garou knew they were nothing but a group of weaklings.

Wave stared at Garou not sure how to act now, in fact, he didn't dare to even move. The rules were speaking about 1 vs 1 matches not a 1 vs all. If he listened to Garou, then he would definitely receive a severe punishment from his General. If he doesn't, he might get the displeasure of Garou which would result in him ending up just like Hans. Wave had no confidence in using his Teigu before Garou kill him. Wave wanted to cry, what did he ever do to deserve this?!

Garou seeing Wave not responding turned toward the participants' direction who were still stunned and spoke "You useless weaklings! Bring your asses over here or get lost. I don't have the entire day to entertain you."

The participants wanted to take on the offer for a moment, but when they saw Garou's eyes, they felt fear overtake all their sense. A primal instinct for survival kicked in and made them stop before any disaster hit them.

All of a sudden, all of them started speaking at the same time.

"I give up."

"I have another place to be in."

"I don't want to die."

"You can have the prize I don't want it."

And many others had a similar reaction, all of the fighters ran out of the stadium in a very disorganised manner. No one wanted to fight Garou. Survival instincts overtook their greed. They had to flee in terror for their wretched lives.

Garou snorted at their cowardice, he turned toward Wave again and said with a sinister grin "It seems I'm the winner, go get my prize !"

Except for the children cheering for Garou, the audience was silent. Night raid members looked at each other, they saw the hopelessness in each other's eyes. In their eyes, Garou was a complete and utter monster.

Back in the arena, Garou was still staring at the stiff Wave. Wave recovered from his shock and spoke "Since no other fighters are here, Garou is the winner ! The General Shall hand your prize personally."

Garou heard the sound of high heel hitting the ground behind him, he turned around and saw a beautiful woman with a long blue hair heading toward him. She was walking down the stairs. The way she carried herself and the confidence was emitting was indicative that she was a strong-willed woman. She was smiling confidently at him. In his eyes, She was the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. But the smile on her face made him uncomfortable for some reason.

Esdeath kept descending toward Garou as if she was a goddess, many of the audience were aroused by her presence. But the members of night raid thought. Otherwise, they felt fear just from seeing her. She was giving a cold and dreadful aura, something can't be described by words. Garou was like a raging monster, a flame burning wildly, while Esdeath was a demoness, a cold and dreadful wall of ice.

The two people that their leader considered the most dangerous enemies to face were now meeting face to face. They dreaded the thought of these two working side by side against them. Would there still be a chance to take down the empire if that really happened? The three assassins held their breath, watching the meeting of these two monsters intently.

"So you are Garou! I have wanted to meet you for a while now. I invited you to join me previously, but you ignored me. I was disheartened by your disregard" Esdeath said with a smile.

Garou frowned at her and said "I have no intention to be a dogfighting for authority. I'm only here for the prize, hand it over and let's get done with this."

Esdeath didn't mind his either his gruff tone nor his arrogant words, she kept her smile and asked "Are you really 18?"

Garou was irritated by this question, he really didn't like to be asked over and over again. He answered angrily "Yes, Do you have a problem with that?"

Esdeath could feel Garou radiating strength as if he was a wild beast, her smile grew wilder as she asked again "And you are not from here? Are you from a village ?"

Garou felt something was amiss here, but he still answered "Not exactly, but yeah, I'm not from the empire."

Esdeath kept her smile as her eyes shone with happiness, Garou wondered what was wrong with this woman?

"I have your prize right here." She extended her hand toward her chest pocket And in an amazing speed she extended her hands back toward Garou. Still, Garou was much faster and caught her hand quickly.

He instantly noticed the collar in her hand, did she want to put the collar on him? His face darkened as he asked "What the hell do you think you're doing."

Esdeath's face turned pink as she answered, "This is your prize, you're mine now. You will be my lover!"

Silent ruled the stadium as they stared at Esdeath, even Garou gaped in confusion at the proclamation. Now he knew what was amiss! This woman was another crazy bitch. First, the two women from that bandit team, then Seryu followed by that black-haired girl and now this.

Edited by B33RUS


	19. Garou Vs Esdeath

Garou Vs Esdeath

Esdeath blushed a little, unable to hide her joy she said "I have just started looking for someone like you, who would have thought I would find my match so soon. Originally, I wanted my lover to have an innocent smile, but seeing yours isn't bad either."

Garou's facial expression became eerily similar to a certain baldy's "ok" face he listened to this woman. What lover? What smile? He just wanted the prize, why did it have to end up like this?

"Now dear, don't resist and come with me, I will take good care of you." Esdeath said again as she tried to push her hand further toward him, but his iron grip didn't allow her to move.

Garou didn't want to deal with this woman anymore, he pushed her back and said "Stop fucking around. I want my prize, which is gold, not some lunatic bitch."

Esdeath stiffened upon hearing his words, as did her subordinates and everyone who knew who she was. To call the empire's strongest a "lunatic bitch" was the same as committing suicide.

Esdeath looked at Garou darkly as she spoke "It seems you need a lot of training before you could act as a proper lover."

She pulled her rapier out and pointed at Garou. Garou snorted in contempt without moving, he simply replied "You should know I don't mind beating women. Keep pointing that thing at me, and this won't end well for you."

Esdeath eyes gleamed, he first insulted her openly, and now he is threatening her, he was far more courageous than she thought. She liked him even more, she was going to enjoy taming and shaping him into her ideal lover.

On the stadium, the three assassins wanted to jump with glee. The two most dangerous enemies they had were about to kill each other. If the two died there, that would be even more perfect. Hell, If one of them died and the other survived, they might attack them depending on the outcome. This was a golden opportunity for them.

On the other side of the stadium, the children were cursing Esdeath while screaming for Garou to beat her while Himiko tried to calm them down before they get in trouble for insulting a general, luckily for them, no one paid attention to them as they were focused on the middle of the arena.

Back in the arena, Garou observed Esdeath calmly, he could tell from her heartbeat and breathing rhythm she was about to attack him. He waited for the attack calmly as he wanted to straighten this bitch's attitude.

Esdeath pierced forward with her rapier toward Garou's shoulder, but Garou casually deflected the attack with a lazy, backhand strike. But his deflect didn't slow her down she rotated around and sent a high back kick toward his head. Garou caught her leg, stopping her momentum. He sent a thunderous kick toward her stomach, but she used her arms to block the kick. Despite blocking, the power of his attack launched her back a few meters.

Esdeath body rotated in air a few times in rapid succession before landing gracefully on her feet. She stood, and as if she had not been hit, she smiled at Garou. Garou narrowed his eyes slightly, he barely used 10% of his full power of continued. However, his simple attack could still take down most instantly. This woman was somewhat better than what he expected.

The audience held their breath as they watched the initial clash between the two, many were amazed that Garou managed to get the upper hand in the first clash but still believed it was a losing battle for him.

"You are pretty good, this is going to be entertaining" Esdeath said as she kept her smile.

Garou didn't bother to reply, he began walking slowly toward Esdeath, while the latter braced herself for the battle. The next instant, the arena was a blur of movement, a black shadow crowned with red danced with a white shadow crowned with blue. It would have been a beautiful show for the spectators had it not been for the tiles breaking, and the sound of trading blows echoing throughout the stadium.

It was only for a few seconds, but the two shadows exchanged over a hundred blows before separating again. Garou stood back in his place, calmly and unharmed. His expression showing a hint of boredom, just as he had before the clash. While Esdeath stood covered in scratches and her breathing was a slightly laboured. The victor of this skirmish was quite evident.

"You are far better than what I expected and far better than anyone that I have met since my arrival. But you are still far from my equal" Garou spoke honestly. He didn't go all out against her, in fact, he doubted he used more than 15%. That said it was still more than he typically used against people. Garou believed this woman before him had strength equal the four bandits he met at his first day combined. She was as strong as the four of them combined, and she didn't have some bizarre weapon like them to boost her strength. Maybe he had to re-assess the power of the people in this world.

Esdeath straightened herself and laughed out loud. Garou frowned at her and asked "Did I knock your brain loose, or are you just nuts?"

Esdeath smiled madly at him "On the contrary, I have never been more sane. You are far more entertaining than I thought. In a fight of brute strength and speed, I have no chance of winning. You are probably the strongest person in this empire when it comes to unarmed combat."

Garou showed slight interest in her words "I assume you still have things to show me."

Esdeath laughed back "Ooh! We are far from done here"

Esdeath charged at Garou, Garou was about to move forward when his legs suddenly froze. He took a peek down at his feet and saw ice covering them, now this was not something he expected to see. He looked back at the fast-approaching Esdeath, when she was about to enter the range of trading blows she jumped back and high in the air as she pointed her palm toward Garou. A big spear of ice came out of her hand and hurtled toward Garou with great force, the speed of the spear was nearly equal to that of Esdeath herself.

Garou showed no fear he simply punched the spear in an uninterested manner shuttering it to pieces. This kind of trick wouldn't work against him, or so he thought.

"Oh as expected of you. But look at your hand, injured already, we barely began this game" Esdeath voice rang arrogantly in Garou's ears.

Garou looked at her then looked at his hand, there was a small scratch on it and a thin line of blood seeping out of it. Garou kept staring at his hand without responding.

Esdeath laughed, seeing him not reacting, she spoke again, "What? Surprised, please don't be. I don't want you to give up so early, it is only a small scratch not even worth mentioning."

Garou looked back at Esdeath, his expression was blank, he blinked twice as his eyes kept moving between her and his hand. Finally, he spoke "I'm actually impressed, I was really not expecting much from you. Just slightly better than the rest of the trash I have been fighting so far. But It seems I was wrong. Maybe you can give me a decent warmup."

Garou said these words in a calm voice, but for some reason, every person in the vicinity felt a shiver running down their spines. This feeling intensified as Garou blank expression turned into a maniacal grin directed at Esdeath. Even Esdeath herself felt something was very wrong. Every fibre in her being screamed danger, the look Garou gave her didn't resemble that of a fighter, but that of a predator. A primal predator watching his prey. She didn't experience this kind of feeling since she was a little child, the sense of danger and the rising threat to her life.

For the first time since his arrival to this world, Garou actually felt excitement, this woman might be able to at least make him fight a little seriously. He crossed his outstretched arms before him, palms toward Esdeath, fingers curled like claws. His knees bent and back forward lowering the centre of his body. He was going to introduce the old jeezer martial arts.

Edited by B33RUS


	20. Garou Displaying His Might

Garou Displaying His Might

Esdeath eyed Garou with caution, the ice still covering his feet to prevent him from moving, but her instincts told her that he was as just as free as before. Her face took a serious expression as she asked "Is this some kind of a martial arts stance?"

Garou kept his grin as she spoke "Yes, it is called 'Rock Smashing Water Stream Fist'. Be proud, you are the first one to be at the receiving end of this art since my arrival. I guarantee you won't be disappointed."

Esdeath didn't know what was coming and she didn't want to find out. She raised her hand, preparing to shoot ice spears toward Garou, but to her and everyone shock, Garou punched the ground beneath him.

The arena itself shattered like glass under the terrifying blow, the ground where Esdeath was standing rose in the air causing her to lose balance, even the stadium wasn't spared, the cracks extended toward it and covered it.

Garou didn't stop there. In an instant, he shot forward at speeds Esdeath could hardly even react to. Esdeath didn't hesitate to create an ice wall with thickness of 2 meters between her and Garou. But It was not even remotely close to stopping him. He punched again causing the ice and the ground beneath her to shatter while she was sent crashing amongst the audience.

Screams filled the stadium at the horrifying display of inhumane strength. People started to run out of the stadium in fear for their lives. Even Himiko forced the children to leave; this was not a simple match anymore. Just the collateral damage alone might kill them if they stayed. When the strong fight, the weak flee. It was as simple as that.

Wave who was the closest to the arena and the one who suffered the most, Esdeath might be the direct target of Garou's attack, but she still had a thick ice wall-saving her life not mention she was far stronger than him physically. He was currently planted in the wall just like Hans earlier, but luckily he didn't receive damage more significant than some bruises.

Wave gathered his strength to move forward freeing himself, he looked at Garou with terror but hearing the screams around him, he steeled himself to stand against Garou. He took out his teigu and planted it in the ground as he screamed Grand Chariot

Steel and chains came from the ground surrounding him and taking the form of a suit of armour. His imperial arm was body armour that increased his strength and speed significantly in addition to the protection provided.

As Garou stood over the downed general with a malicious grin, WaveWave charged at full speed from behind. Arm raised to strike, "Stop right …..."

But before he could finish his words or hit, Garou in less time than it took WaveWave to blink, turned and was upon him instantly as His arms blurred as it seemed to strike out everywhere at once. Tens of blows rained upon Wave, blows that he couldn't block or even react to. The next instant him along with his now ragged armour were throttled through the walls of the stadium and into the street beyond. All of that happened in the blink of an eye. From Wave's perspective, he charged Garou, then a flash of Garou before him and then in the blink of an eye he was outside the colosseum.

Wave could taste the blood in his mouth. His entire body ached from the attack. Had it not been for the armour, he would have been pulverized! He looked down at his armour and saw it covered in dents, cracks, bending, even a few tears in different places. Garou's punches, at least he thought they were punches nearly destroyed his armour!

Wave staggered to his feet, preparing to go in again, he wasn't going to give up like this even if it meant having to pay with his life.

"Wave! Are you okay?" A blonde man came flying from the sky with wings on his back.

"Rin ! What are you doing here? We have to go back and help general Esdeath!" Wave screamed in a frenzied manner.

"Be rational here. Our priority is to evacuate the civilians! The general can hold her own. We need to make sure the people are safe as fast as possible so we could go back to help her" Rin said.

Wave hated to admit it, but Rin was right, he started to help people evacuate when he heard another explosion from his behind.

He turned around and saw huge spikes of ice coming out of the stadium. The general was going all out inside there ! But he felt the ground shaking again. He knew the guy inside was going on a rampage. Wave felt a cold sensation of terror radiating through him. Similarly, the people who were still escaping felt fear, was this truly the strength of a mere human?

Inside the arena, Garou was like an ice crushing machine, he moved around the stadium destroying Esdeath's ice waves and spears, while the latter tried in vain to fend off her opponent. She feverishly shot ice at him, doing her best to keep him away. But despite all of her efforts, it was useless. Each time she used a move or skill, Garou would crush it with sheer force, but the next time she uses it again, he will dodge it or redirect the attack toward her with minimal effort. The fight was becoming harder and harder for her. The worst of all, Garou wasn't slowing down nor showing any sign of fatigue. In fact, he seemed to be getting faster, hitting harder, and his movement patterns kept changing.

Seeing Garou getting closer and closer to her, Esdeath had no choice but to create an ice tower under her feet to create some distance. She made sure to fill the tower body with ice spikes to slow him down.

The tower was so massive that even those who were dozens of kilometres away could see it. The people closest to the stadium where the fight was going on, gaped at the sight before them. Even the assassins and the jaegers two members were shocked. The strength these two were displaying was downright inhumane.

* * *

In the imperial palace, The prime minister was walking with the young emperor in the palace halls, behind them was the great commander Budo.

"Thanks for your worries general, but his majesty knows how to handle it" The prime minister said mockingly.

Again this foolish general objecting the actions of his people, but it all fell to a deaf ear. The young emperor would only listen to him. If not for the man being useful to protect the palace, he would have long since got rid of him.

"What is that ?!" the young emperor asked.

The prime minister and the general looked from the window where the young emperor was looking and widened their eyes, a huge majestic tower of ice in the middle of the city.

"It must be general Esdeath, what the hell is that fool doing?!" General Budo growled. To use such power in the middle of the city was not something he would approve.

"She must be facing a strong enemy" The prime minister said as he frowned a little, which idiot would attack that woman in the middle of the day and inside the imperial capital.

Similar to the three at the palace, the rest of the jaegers watched the sight from other locations. All of them had the same thought, to go there and check the situation.

Moments later, booms of shockwaves sounded. Parts of the tower shattering in all directions as Garou ascended rapidly. But the next thing they saw made their eyes widen. Even the prime minister was shocked by what was going.

"This fucking bitch went crazy ! Who the hell does she think she is?!" Budo cursed in rage despite the presence of the emperor, as he really couldn't tolerate what was going on.

The emperor and the minister didn't even care what he was saying as they were watching the monstrous display of might in front of them. But no one was more shocked than the people near the battle location, to these people all of a sudden a huge shadow covered them. When they looked up, they saw a massive mountain of ice descending from the sky grandly and terrifyingly.

"RUN!" Wave and Rin Screamed, waking people from their trance. If they stayed here, they would all be killed. This fight was going out of the hand. People were running faster than ever to save their lives. Suddenly, they heard the sound of explosions ringing above them again. They didn't dare to look up and continued running. Only the two jaegers and the three assassins looked up and were shocked yet again.

The massive mountain of ice was breaking to pieces in the middle of the air. They didn't know what was going on. But whatever it was, it was not something they could mess with. These two are real monsters!

Huge ice chunks fill down from the sky, destroying the close buildings. Luckily, thanks to the fear-induced adrenaline rush and the two jaegers fast reactions, no one of the people was killed or harmed.

The two jaegers were about to head back to check the state of their general when they were called "WAVE ! RIN !"

Wave and Rin turned around and saw the rest of their teammates coming their way. They were glad to see them here.

"What happened?" Dr stylish asked

"No time for explanation, we have to help general Esdeath" Wave shouted as he ran in. The rest of the jaegers followed closely behind him.

Unknown to them, three assassins were right behind them, keeping distance and observing everything was happening.

The six jaegers passed by huge boulders of ice. The dust was covering the area. When it was finally thinning a little, they saw their general standing in the middle of a crater with her rapier broken next to her. She was supporting herself with a sword made of ice, in an attempt to prevent herself from falling. She was breathing heavily, and her body was covered with wounds. Her clothing was ragged, and her left eye was blackened and swollen, her right arm appeared to be dislocated or broken. Blood oozed from the myriad of cuts and scrapes all over her body. Blood coming out from a wound on her head stained her blue hair and part of her face in red, she coughed some blood then fell on her knees. Their proud and strong general was reduced to such a miserable state was beyond their expectations.

More and more dust cleared out showing Garou's body. The man responsible for Esdeath's injuries stood there calmly not showing any signs of being tired, his body had no visible wounds or bruises. The only thing that showed he was in a fierce battle was the dust on his clothes if that could even be considered as proof considering the surrounding state.

There was no doubt, the empire's strongest and undefeated general has just tasted defeat at the hands of this man, a thorough and crushing one.

"Not bad blue, You proved to be a decent warmup indeed" Garou chuckled.

The jaegers and the assassins hidden in the back shivered hearing his words. All of this destruction considered a warmup? How could they possibly know the battles and destruction Garou witnessed in his original World.

Edited by B33RUS.


	21. Gaining Respect

Gaining Respect

The only one unshaken by Garou's words was Esdeath. She laughed upon hearing his words earning the attention of her subordinates. She used all of her remaining strength to stand up again as she grinned at Garou, she said "You are far better than what I thought! No, you far surpassed all my expectations, you are definitely far stronger than me. Stronger than anyone in the empire !"

Her words troubled her subordinates, the air was getting more and more tense. The general lost him, what about them. They were not confident enough in taking this guy down and even if they somehow managed to do it, the price would have been some of their lives.

"That proves I was right about you. You are the most suitable man to be my lover !" Esdeath said with slight blush barely visible through the purple bruising causing the newly arrived jaegers to gasp in shock. Wave and Rin wanted to facepalm as they thought simultaneously Didn't this whole disaster begin because of this very idea of yours, why are focusing on this point over and over again. Do you want him to get angrier and kill us all !

And as if he was answering their expectation, Garou shouted back at her, "What is wrong with you? Are you a masochist? I'm not into that, so go find someone else to satisfy your fetishes. You should focus on not giving me more reasons to fucking kill you."

Garou was really getting fed up with this woman, she really was crazy. The six jaegers tensed hearing him threatening their general, but the general herself didn't mind him, she staggered slowly toward him with all the strength she had left in her. Once she right in front of him, she said "Quite the contrary, I'm not giving you a reason to kill me hahaha... You are the strongest man in the empire, and you obviously enjoy fighting."

"So?" Garou wasn't sure if her walking up to him was courage or plain stupidity.

"I'm the same as you. I'm the strongest woman in the empire" Esdeath spoke proudly.

Garou frowned a little and said, "So I should be your lover for this ?"

Esdeath shook her and said "If we two strongest battle maniacs were to breed, our children would be the perfect warriors for sure. We will start a great tribe of warriors. Besides, I'm fond of you already."

She said the last part with a blush, but no one paid attention to that as they all thought about what kind of children would be born of these two were they got together. Even Garou himself briefly considered it. Everyone shivered at the thought, but Garou thought it would be interesting to lead a tribe of battle junkies.

Garou shook his head, pushing these thoughts away from his mind. He looked at Esdeath and cursed inwardly, the idea was actually tempting to him, but this was wrong and didn't align with his desire to be the strongest. More importantly, he wasn't from this world in the first place and had no plans to stay.

Garou gave the most expressionless face and gave a straight flat answer "I'm not interested, and won't be breeding anything with you."

Esdeath eyes narrowed as she replied "Don't think I'll give up so easily!" before coughing up more blood.

Garou ignored her and looked at the group behind her, her special elite team were looking awkwardly at each other, seeing their commander's actions. Garou noticed Seryu standing amongst them, so he called out for her since she was the only one he knew "Hey Seryu! Get your ass over here and take this crazy woman away before I really kill her"

Seryu wanted to say something, but Esdeath spoke first "Who are you calling crazy? I'm completely sane, beside you already broke some of my ribs, want to touch and make sure?"

Esdeath pushed her boobs closer to Garou as if she was seducing him, causing his eye to twitch as he viewed her in annoyance. He was really beginning to consider breaking her legs next!

"Ummm... General?"

Garou and Esdeath both looked at the giant masked man who was raised his hand as if he were in a class.

"Yes, Bols?" Esdeath asked.

"I'm not well versed in relationships, but I have a little experience, and I think forcing a relationship like this is not a healthy thing to be done… Especially in your current situation," Bols said with a little hesitation.

The other 5 nodded a little while thinking this whole relationship is a messed up idea.

"I see… What do you suggest then" Esdeath asked, ignoring the angry Garou who standing right beside her.

"First, you should stop this" Bols answered.

"Finally, someone with a brain" Garou said while Esdeath faces darkened.

"You should take it step by step, first get to know each other"

"I take it back." Garou clenched his fists, barely holding himself from killing the whole group, he didn't want to kill for such a stupid reason. By contrast to his action, Esdeath was relaxed and nodded in understanding.

"Let me start, My name is Esdeath" she said with a smile while extending her hand for Garou to shake.

"You do realize we were fighting a moment ago and I nearly killed you, right?" Garou deadpanned.

"You are stronger, so you have the right to injure me or even kill me. I wouldn't hold a grudge for losing to a stronger opponent" Esdeath spoke with conviction, for this is what she always believed. The strong lives while the weak suffer and perish.

Garou was surprised by her words, he could tell she was honest, and just now she spoke her true beliefs. She was a crazy woman for sure, but she was true to herself and not a bitter loser. For this alone, Garou held a little respect for the woman.

He extended his hand and replied "Garou."

Aside from the general and one member of the jaegers, the rest bodies remained tensed a little not daring to relax entirely in the presence of Garou. Seryu was the only one to relax as she knew Garou, she feared him but knew he was not part of the enemies' evil forces. After all, according to her dead teacher, he was just a violent man with a short temper, not truly evil.

Seryu moved closer to Esdeath as Koro spit some bandages earning a frown from Garou. He didn't know that little thing could work as a storage as well.

Seryu started bandaging Esdeath who sat limply on the floor, Dr stylish soon joined her as he was the one with the greatest expertise, upon checking her wounds he sighed in relief and spoke to the others, "The general has some light wounds and bruises, a few ribs are fractured, and her arm is dislocated but luckily nothing serious. In a few days, she would be back to full health."

The group sighed in relief, while Stylish continued "We should head back to the royal palace now, so the general could rest."

Garou frowned at them before speaking "I still didn't get my prize."

The four Jaegers who came late didn't understand what he meant while Rin and Wave wanted to punch the guy. Wave couldn't contain himself and said "Are you serious? After everything, you have done? You still asking this !"

Garou looked sharply at Wave, causing the poor guy to flinch in fear "Your leader started it all, not me. In addition to that, why did I end up in all of this trouble if not for it? If you have a problem, please speak, I'm more than willing to let my fist communicate with your face."

Wave stepped back while Esdeath laughed, she said "I'm getting more and more interested in you. You don't have to worry about that, you can come with us to the royal palace. I will hand you the prize there if you don't mind."

Garou thought immediately it might be a trap for him but then disregarded this notation. Esdeath didn't give him the feeling of someone who will use underhanded methods to win against her opponents. Besides, if she did make a trap for him, wouldn't breaking right through her plans more entertaining anyway?

Garou nodded to her and said, "fine, I'll come with you. I might as well go sightseeing in the royal palace."

The Jaegers nearly fell hearing his words, since when did anyone go sightseeing in the royal palace? They could do nothing but keep their opinions to themselves.

"Let's head back" Esdeath said

Esdeath stood back up on her own, albeit with effort and walked toward the palace refusing to receive help. She was not going to act weak now. Garou walked right beside her, disregarding the rest.

Not far away, the 3 assassins stared blankly at this development. They thought about attacking Esdeath while she was weakened, but seeing Garou walking right next to her caused them to drop the thought. Garou was the one who injured and made her vulnerable, but currently, he was the strongest shield she could ever ask for.

Edited by B33RUS.


	22. Visiting The Imperial Palace

Visiting The Imperial Palace

After the great fight, Esdeath, Garou and the rest headed back to the royal palace. The group first headed toward the medical compound to make sure Esdeath would receive proper treatment. Garou tagged along as he didn't know his way in the palace and he really had nothing else to do.

"Hmm.. you have been silent since we arrived here. Maybe you are worried for me or maybe guilty for injuring me" Esdeath smirked looking at Garou, while her six subordinates wanted to cry. The guy was definitely annoyed by your antics, but you still continue regardless. They swore in their heart to find someone who can educate their commander on how to flirt with short-tempered men.

Garou watched Esdeath with an unamused glare as he replied in a flat tone "No, I was wondering if I should have ripped your tongue out your jaw."

"Actually you can't silent someone by doing that, he will only give muffined sounds of pain which might prove more annoying than words. I would suggest you to go for the skin or the limbs if you are torturing them, the pain might cause them to lose their ability to talk or move" Esdeath suggested, as she wanted her lover to be well versed in torturing people.

In return for her sincere intention toward him, Garou stared dumbly at her. He met his fair share of weirdos, but this one is really taking it to a whole new different level. She was crazy, had weird fetishes, honour, unstable emotions and courage, and she was a battle maniac. Now, she was guiding him on how to beat people. The more he interacted with her, the more he believed she had some screws loose in her head. Maybe coming here wasn't a good idea.

"Anyway, I won't let you wait. Rin order someone to go and get the prize's money, make it double the amount" Esdeath ordered

"I don't need double, just give me the original amount" Garou commented not liking how things were going.

"It is my gift for you, it is not much compared to what gave me" Esdeath replied happily.

"What are you going on about now?" Garou was confused again

"That was the most exciting fight I had ever had, besides this feeling in my chest is really nice, I like it" Esdeath said as she blushed.

Garou sighed in resignation, maybe she will be his first kill in this world. He looked at Rin with malice as he said "Move your ass fast as you can, I don't want to stay in the same place as her much longer."

From behind, Esdeath gave Rin a death stare as if she was telling him to take his time. The poor blond wanted to cry, he was going to displease one of these two monsters no matter what he did. The rest of his teammates gave him a look of pity.

Rin headed out intending to take a reasonable time and praying for the best. At the same time, a child followed by a fat man and a large muscular armoured man entered the room. Garou watched them with no interest, while the others dropped on their knees. Garou noted their actions, these three must be a very high in status, especially the kid, he is probably a prince or something like that.

"What was going on, general? Why did act like this in the middle of the city, we watched from the palace, and we were worried …." the child spoke, but then he realised the bandages covering her. He was shocked, he asked "were you attacked by the traitors? How did it go? And how are your wounds?"

"I thank your majesty for your concern. The answer is no, we weren't under attack, I just had a friendly match against a candidate lover of mine" Esdeath answered with a straight face.

The boy and the two men behind him were stunned silly, was that a friendly match? What about a deathmatch. They nearly destroyed a part of the capital in the processes. On the side, Garou was still standing, when he heard the boy speaking, he remembered a tiny detail he heard when he first arrived. The current emperor was a little child. When the talk continued, he was sure of his guess. He still didn't interrupt it, as he was amused by their expression. As the one being spoken about, he was definitely not friendly, he might have gone a little easy on Esdeath and didn't destroy her completely, but was because of the unusual circumstances and the warrior nature she showed.

At this moment, The muscular man behind the emperor noticed Garou standing there not paying any respect to the emperor. The man took a step forward and spoke with an authoritative voice "Hey you... What do you think you're doing? Why are you not showing respect to the emperor."

The rest finally noticed Garou standing there, the emperor frowned a little while Esdeath explained "He is new here and he doesn't know you, your majesty. In addition ..."

"What about me standing here? Do you have a problem?" Garou spoke interrupting Esdeath, he didn't like when people talked like that to him, especially weaklings who believed themselves above others because of their social standing or the whole politics thing.

Lighting started cracking around the man as he replied "I see ! It seems I will need to make an example out of you. So no one in the future will dare to disrespect his majesty."

In that moment, Esdeath and her soldiers knew this going in a terrible direction. Esdeath didn't care much about the foolish general in front of her. But she didn't want a fight to break out here. On one side, Garou was the one she chose to be her lover. While the empire was the source of her fun and battles, she couldn't afford to lose its support.

"Your majesty …." Esdeath was about to talk again, but Budo didn't wait for her, he shouted 'DIE !' as he immediately attacked. A terrifying wave of lighting targeted Garou, the latter didn't dodge and allowed it to hit him. Esdeath seeing it play out like this was enraged, she sent Ice spears toward Bodou, who casually blocked them. He was about to say something, but the man that was supposed to have died upon being hit spoke.

"The toys you're wearing can generate electricity, huh? That's an interesting weapon you got there."

Garou might have reverted to a human again after his defeat at the hands of Saitama. Still, some of the monster characteristics remained there, such as his heat and electricity resistance. Could the fool before him send attacks more potent than S class heroes or dragon class monsters?

Budo was shocked, the man stood in his place with lighting flickering around him, he wasn't hurt in the slightest. Esdeath sighed in relief at first, but then all of her instincts screamed danger, just as when she challenged him. Budo attacked Garou, so Garou would definitely fight back. This was going to turn shit if this goes on.

Her worries were spot on, Garou was emitting a dreadful aura as he eyed Budo. The great general felt he was being eyed by a terrifying beast. Budo wanted to take a step back, but a shadow passed by him as he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. He looked at his arm and realised it was missing.

"Does it hurt?" a voice whispered behind him.

Bodou turned around and saw Garou pointing his own severed arm at him. Bodou wanted to attack Garou, but Garou was faster. Garou swung the severed limb as a weapon slapping the general right in the face and knocking him down.

"Or does this hurt even more? being slapped out cold by your own hand" Garou snorted in contempt at the fallen general, before turning toward Esdeath "I took your words to heart as I tore off the bastard's arm, happy?"

The emperor and the fat man paled at the gruesome sight of blood. The child backed off along with the fat man, not saying anything. The strongest guard the royal palace had to offer was defeated in an instant!

The fat man turned to Esdeath with a worried expression and asked "General Esdeath, who might this man be ?"

"Oh, right. This is Garou, the lover I found. He was the one I fought against today in the city and bested me as you can see" Esdeath said with a blush.

If someone were to see this blush, and despite the bandages covering her face, they would have been mesmerised by her angelic face. However, to the fat man, this was the most terrifying thing he has ever seen. Esdeath fell in love with that guy, and he was stronger than her? He defeated Budo instantly! Where the fuck did she find him!?

The young emperor steeled his heart and took a step forward, he spoke with all the courage he had "how dare you attack my subject in my presence, this is an act of treason!"

Garou looked at the child and smirked "You have some guts talking to me like this! Who do you think you are, brat?"

The boy took a step back and spoke with a shaking voice, "I'm not a brat, I'm the emperor !"

Garou laughed at the boy, he replied loudly scaring the shit out of the boy and the prime minister next to him "If you are an emperor, I'M A GOD ! IF I SAY YOU ARE BRAT THEN YOU ARE A BRAT!"

Garou extended his hand toward the boy and grabbed him from his neck mercilessly. He raised him in the air. The Jaegers couldn't tolerate his actions and wanted to stop him. But Garou didn't forget them, he turned around toward them, just his glare alone froze them on the spot. Garou turned toward the boy and said "Look around you ! these are your soldiers and generals, your elites ! yet they are standing helplessly in front of me. No one is going to help you, no one can. Do you know why? Because I'm strong and you are weak. A strength that doesn't truly belong to you is not a strength at all. Only if you are strong enough to win your fights on your own, then you are truly strong. Titles, tricks, plots, and politics all become useless against absolute strength."

The boy stopped struggling as he looked at the defeated look of his subjects, he looked at his prime minister, his wise advisor, was taking steps back slowly, keeping distance from him, he was obviously afraid. The boy for the first time felt he was weak, he truly was. Surrounded by his own people yet so powerless.

Garou dropped the boy and turned to Esdeath, who was mesmerised by his overbearing attitude and tyrannical words. He scowled internally at the woman's behaviour but still spoke "I'm not in the mood for sightseeing anymore, I'm going back. You know where I reside, send the prize there. I don't care who will deliver it as long as it isn't you !"

Esdeath nodded mindlessly while blushing. Garou turned around and left the place. Silence filled the air until Esdeath spoke "I'm falling for him more and more!"

Edited by B33RUS.


	23. Night Raid Receives the News

Night Raid Receives the News

Garou went back to the orphanage after his display before the young emperor, he was not someone who takes joy in hurting or scaring children. Still, the boy was way too foolish and naive. Garou saw the concern in the boy eyes toward Esdeath injuries and the boy overcoming his fear to stand for his fallen subordinate. Garou concluded the boy was not bad at heart, just naive and easy to manipulate and very weak physically.

Garou pitied the boy a little, being a tool used by others to achieve their ends while believing he is doing the right thing, all the blame was put on his shoulders without even knowing it.

Some might say if he really pitied him, then he should just get rid of those bad apples around him. But Garou was no hero, he wouldn't do such a thing, moreover, if he hypothetically did it, he would just be allowing others to come and control the boy. The boy should seek strength and stand on his own.

Garou wanted the boy to see that his words and standing are not as important as he was told. If he sought to learn and develop his own capabilities for the betterment of himself and his people, then he is going to be a good emperor in the future, if not then let his destiny decided by fate, he simply won't be worth the trouble of being helped.

Garou had simple thoughts regarding the whole matter, he didn't want to think about it nor had the capacity, for now as he had much greater trouble to deal with. After he came back to the orphanage, he was surprised by a united squad of children and angry nun tackling him. Some of them were happy to see him, others angry and some crying.

"Are you okay? You are not injured, right?" Himiko asked with concern. While Ari was stuck herself to his leg and cried "I thought I won't see you again"

The rest had similar reactions, Garou couldn't help but smile a little and wonder if they saw him back in his world with holes and cuts spreading all over his body, the blood raining down like fountain, how would they react?

Well, Garou being Garou replied in a casual manner breaking the whole emotional situation "I feel insulted, to think you thought I might be hurt by a weakling."

"But you fought against the empire's strongest !" Himiko said

"Previously strongest, I won. Now I'm the strongest. Anyway, I'm hungry, Make me some food!" Garou said casually.

* * *

At the same time in Night raid hideout, the assassins sat in the main hole with troubled faces. Tatsumi and the others already informed them of what happened in the capital. The three did not witness the entire battle in detail but seeing the fast exchange of blows at the beginning and the aftermath and destruction they caused.

Two Monsters fought against each other, the speed they showed just in the initial exchange was slightly above Akame, the fastest assassin amongst them. Followed by the destruction of the arena and stadium then the huge Ice mountain dropping from the sky before getting shattered mid-air. They didn't know how the two did it, but the side damage alone could flatten an entire army.

On the throne, the night raid leader, Najenda, was sitting with clenched fists. She knew Esdeath was monster, she had experienced it first hand when Esdeath dug her eye out and cut her arm. If someone asked her to fight Esdeath 1 vs 1, then Najenda would unhesitatingly refuse.

Even after a few years, she still feared Esdeath traumatized by her to this day. But now, when she heard the man, her subordinates got beaten by a few times and she has been investigating for the past few weeks, had met Esdeath and fought against her surprised her. She even thought at the beginning if he didn't die, he might join their cause with some persuasive and promises.

But the reality was a bitter pill of continuous disappointments, her subordinates informed her that the man not only fought against Esdeath and what could be described in a legendary battle. He defeated her without sustaining any notable injuries, he defeated the monster that she feared the most, the monster that causes the revolutionary tens of thousands of lives losses, the monster that was the main reason why they still didn't dare to attack the imperial capital until this moment.

Moreover, he didn't just defeat her, he reduced her to a state where she struggled to stand up. Such a feat amazed her, but also terrified her to no end, what would they do when they meet him in the future, could they even survive against him? After all, she didn't believe they had a chance to win in a direct clash.

Cold sweat covered her body as she tried to compose herself as much as she could, she asked the green-haired man before her "So Lubbock, what happened afterwards? Since he won, how come Esdeath remained alive?"

Lubbock knew Najenda long enough that he could hear the shock and fear hidden in her tone, he didn't want to scare her or trouble her, but this information must be delivered, the severity is way too high. He calmed his heart. He answered "When the Jaegers and we arrived at the scene of the battle was already over, Garou was standing there watching Esdeath mockingly and simply let her subordinates rush to her side. The 6 Jaegers prepared to fight him when Esdeath started speaking nonsense….."

Lubbock described what happened precisely in details. Esdeath actions and words, which was something he could barely believe despite hearing it with his own ears.

"And so the fight didn't continue. The Jaegers gave Esdeath initial treatment while Garou didn't attempt to hurt or kill them. He just talked casually with them as if nothing happened" Lubbock sighed at the end, back then he wished the fight would continue if they were lucky Esdeath and her elite team would have perished there.

"Damn it !" Najenda was really angry out of desperation and fear. To think Esdeath came so close to death yet she wasn't killed or even hurt permanently because of some nonsense talking. How the world worked was genuinely unfair, she nearly died when she left the empire and got humiliated, she ran like a dog for her life. While the monstrous evil woman finally tasted defeat without losing a single hair !

Najenda fear toward Esdeath could only surpassed by her hatred for the woman, she was ruined by her, turned into half cripple and lost all of her subordinates at that woman hands. Yet luck was on her side, the only man who could take her down didn't even hurt her.

"Since the fight was over, I assume Esdeath and her soldiers headed back to the palace. Why did you not ambush them, if you focused all your firepower against her, then you would have been able to kill her !" Najenda stated, she was angry that such a golden chance.

"The 6 Jaegers were right next to her. I saw two of them using Teigus, and they weren't bols and Seryu. 4 of them had Teigus, and I'm willing to bet the last 2 had Teigus as well" Leone stated facts

"You could still catch them off guard and kill her! They wouldn't be able to react in time if the three of you attacked at the same time." Najenda said factly

"We didn't have enough confidence to pull it off. Even if we did, we would have died" Tatsumi added.

"But as long as Esdeath is dead, everything is worth it" Najenda said cruelly making everyone uncomfortable, this was a new side to their leader they didn't know. Only Lubbock understood her, she was traumatized and her anger and hate clouding her judgment he sighed slightly and decided to continue narrating what happened. The worst part was next.

"Even if all the Jaegers didn't react to us we wouldn't have been able to kill her" Lubbock said

"Any why is that?" Najenda asked

"Because Garou was actively protecting her from us" Lubbock said with a depressed face.

Najenda stiffened, even the rest of the assassins didn't have it any better including Tatsumi and Leone, they were shocked by this. Tatsumi and Leone saw Garou walking next to her, but what about actively protecting her? They thought Lubbock was trying to lessen Najenda's anger by lying. But Lubbock next words shocked them even more.

"When everyone was focused on Esdeath speaking, I saw Garou looking directly at us, he definitely knew we were there. It was only for an instant, he looked in our direction then back to Esdeath. At first, I dismissed it, but when they left back to the palace. Garou walked right next to her at the side where he will be between her and us. Even if the Jaegers didn't stop us or move, just by Garou alone there, we had no chance to get close to her"

Lubbock didn't lie in the slightest. Garou indeed noticed them hiding, but he wasn't too bored to attack them. He let them leave as he had nothing against them anyway, besides why should he bother hunting cockroaches? As for protecting Esdeath, he didn't mean it, Lubbock was just overthinking it. Still, the result of his thoughts troubled him and his friends even more.

"What are we going to do now ? I mean, if Garou end up joining the empire's forces, then the rebellion is pretty much doomed. Garou and Esdeath working together is a death sentence to our cause" Mine said weakly.

"There is also general Bodou who's supposedly on bar with esdeath, we are up against 3 monster !" Tatsumi said

"I'm going to the headquarters to ask for reinforcement, this is our only choice" Najenda said weakly before leaving. She even forgot to assign someone to be in charge.

The situation couldn't be any grimmer in Night raid eyes.


	24. Shipping

Shipping

The next day in the imperial palace, Esdeath gathered her subordinates to their most important meeting since forming the Jaegers.

" I can't afford failure here! I need a feasible solution " Esdeath's eyes scanned her subordinates.

" First, you must forget about the direct approach. It is obvious how ineffective it was. In fact, it brought more harm than good" Dr Stylish said seriously

Esdeath nodded " I know, I had first-hand experience After All. I don't have any clue to what to do now."

" Umm… Why don't you forget about the whole …..." Wave spoke but interrupted by an ice spear passing his head and scratching his cheek.

" I suggest you drop that line of thoughts before I drop your corpse ! " Esdeath gave a death glare to Wave who quivered.

Esdeath turned to Bols who was sitting silently, she asked him " Bols, yesterday you spoke about taking it step by step slowly. Do you have anything in mind?"

" Ummm… From my experience, I don't think attempting to make him your lover first will work, you need to move slower."

Esdeath hummed thoughtfully before asking again " What experience you are talking about? And what do you suggest me to do next? "

Bols replied shyly " I was lucky and got married and now I have a cute little daughter "

The Jaegers were stunned silly by his words. While Esdeath nodded with a smile, Bols is the one who can help her !

" Yesterday, Mr Garou gave me the impression of him being impatient, short-tempered and easily can get violent " Bols said carefully while watching his leader reactions

Esdeath nodded in agreement " That's true, He is a tyrant by nature and inspires fear instinctively "

Bols was relieved seeing she was not angry at him speaking like that about Garou, he continued, " I think you shouldn't try to be his lover directly, try to become a close friend to him first. Afterwards, you can attempt to take the next step in your relationship"

Esdeath smiled and nodded, " That's a brilliant idea, good job, Bols! We still didn't deliver the money, I shall deliver it personally and improve my friendship with him !"

Esdeath ran out, leaving her subordinates. Rin eyes watched Esdeath leaves then turned to the rest of his teammates as he said " Is it a good idea to let her go? Didn't you tell me yesterday he didn't want her especially to deliver the prize? Would she be okay alone?"

" Your concerns are not misplaced, but we need to let her go to find her happiness. If things went bad, we as her subordinates should give her all the support we can" Dr Stylish spoke, his words ignited the wills of the rest

" Even if she is scary and Garou, even scarier, I will help them ! Besides, she is as scary as Garou when she is angry. They are really a good match for each other" Wave said, which earned him nodes from everyone else.

" By the way, Dr Stylish, How is general Bodou? Garou injured him badly yesterday" Seryu asked.

" With a genius such as myself, I naturally restored his arm. Luckily I could treat him without delays, so in a week time, his arm will be fully recovered " Stylish said proudly.

Seryu and Wave both clapped for his success while Rin smiled.

" Guys, what if they fight again? What about the citizens? " Kurome asked suddenly.

The group froze, just imagining the damage alone made them shiver.

" We should follow the general, if the worst scenario happens, some of us will help the citizen to run while the rest will help the general "

The rest nodded slowly, they stood and took their weapons with them. Today, the team was heading out to perform one of the most dangerous missions in the empire's history !

* * *

In the orphanage, when Garou woke up and like any other day, he went to perform his morning warmup training before heading out to hunt beasts. When he returned, he sat meditating until Himiko finished cooking. And as usual, Himiko called him to eat, Garou headed to the dining room and sat in his chair, when he was about to start eating the orphanage door was knocked.

Himiko stood and went to answer while Garou couldn't help but frown, he had a feeling that he won't like the unexpected visitor. The next instant, Esdeath ran inside with a smile on her face.

" Hello Garou, I hope you missed me ! "

" UGH! Why are you here ?" Garou asked

" Did you forget? You asked me to deliver the prize " Esdeath answered facts.

" I didn't say you can come ! " Garou replied irritated.

" No, you said you don't care who delivers the money unless it was me ! I naturally brought it as you asked. What kind of close friend am I if I can't help you with receiving your rightful prize!" Esdeath said seriously

" Close friend? When the fuck did you become my close friend?" Garou asked

" Oh, Since we are going to be lovers in the future, we need to be close friends first…. NO! Best friends !" Esdeath answered

Garou was thinking about kicking Esdeath out of the orphanage when Himiko who followed Esdeath inside, said " Umm… General Esdeath, I don't want to be disrespectful, but what are you talking about?"

Esdeath finally looked at Himiko, she ignored Himiko presence since the very beginning as she was only focused on Garou. Esdeath sized Himiko from top to bottom before replying " Yesterday, I fell in love with Garou, and so I decided for us to be lovers. Despite being compatible with each other, Garou still acted unreasonably and refused …. "

" What the fuck is wrong with you? Who between the two of us is acting unreasonably " Garou interrupted Esdeath, he was really pissed of by her, was this really a general?

" See? That's what I'm talking about " Esdeath pointed at Garou showing facts.

Garou didn't like how Esdeath kept acting, he was genuinely going to beat her when Himiko spoke " I see… Regardless of the situation between the two of you, you are still our guest! Please join us ! But please stop talking about the topic, Garou might attack you if this goes on"

Garou looked at Himiko angrily then continued eating, while Esdeath eyes gleamed at the words attack, she just got the perfect inspiration.

Esdeath sat on the table with Garou and the rest and started eating with them. While Himiko was observing Esdeath

[ She is really one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen, she got the charisma and confidence, not to mention her high status as a great general and her title being the strongest. Moreover, the hair colour somehow matches Garou's, they genuinely look made for each other ] Himiko thought as she sadness filling her, she was inferior to Esdeath in every single aspect.

" Garou, I have a very interesting proposal" Esdeath said suddenly.

" I'm not interested " Garou replied instantly.

" I didn't even explain it ! " Esdeath replied agitated by Garou's reply.

Garou continued eating ignoring her, so she said " Very well, I will speak anyway ! I know you don't want to join the army or work for me, so what about you spar with me? Consider it training with me"

Garou stopped eating and looked back at her " Why would you think I will want that? You are not my match, fighting against you is pointless for me "

Esdeath was left speechless, indeed he was stronger than her. She fought with all of her strength yesterday but was still got defeated without being able to inflict any significant damage on him. She even had a feeling that he was not going all out against her.

" You didn't go all out yesterday, did you ?" Esdeath couldn't help but ask

Garou looked at her then replied " If I went all out against you, you wouldn't be speaking here "

Esdeath wasn't shocked nor angry, she seemed even more excited than before. She closed her eyes and thought about it then replied " What about fighting against my team and me? When they are working together, they should be as strong as me !"

Garou thought about her words and found them interesting, he remembered her team having weird weapons. They might be able to help Garou advance his strength, even if he didn't improve physically, he might be able to sharpen his skills further.

" Very well, I accept. But I won't accept but a real battle where injuries would occur " Garou replied. Only actual battles can help him, regular harmless spares are not made for him.

Esdeath gave a dangerous smile. To her, battle was something she enjoyed even more than the feeling she had for Garou. Besides having the chance to experience the blood rush and the feel of the incoming demise was too addictive for her.

Himiko and the children saw her smiling at Garou and shivered, this smile was exactly like the one Garou gave, scary and intimidating.

[ These two are truly made for each other ] Himiko couldn't help but exclaim in her heart. Esdeath actions were too similar to Garou's. Whether it was Esdeath's team or Himiko and the children, all of them shipped these two as a matching pair.


	25. The Miserable Jaegers

The Miserable Jaegers

After they finished eating, Garou asked Esdeath "Where are we going to spar? We need a suitable place."

Esdeath thought a little then said "There is a huge military training ground south of the city, we can go there. But first, I need to get my team."

"No need, They are outside already" Garou spoke nonchalantly, but Esdeath was surprised, she didn't know they were outside. If they are really there, she should have felt someone watching her at the very least, so they must have been just waiting outside in a safe distance, or Garou is mistaken.

Esdeath went outside to make sure if Garou was right, she stood outside and spoke loudly "All of you come out."

Her team came out from behind the buildings in the front, she asked "Why are you all here?"

The group looked at each other before Stylish walking forward and answered, "We were worried you might get in another fight, so we came to help you."

Esdeath looked coldly at them "I don't need you all to be following me around. If I don't ask you, then you are not allowed to follow me !" her face then turned into a smile as continued "I will not punish you this time as I really needed you. I was planning to call you, and you saved me the effort and time. Prepare we are going outside the city to have some fun."

Esdeath walked back inside while her team looked at each other. Rin spoke first "I have an awful feeling about this."

Wave nodded and said "Me too, I felt a shiver for someone reason. You don't think the commander is going to do something bad to us, right ?"

His team remained silent, while Esdeath walked back inside, she walked to Garou and asked "How did you know the 6 of them were outside? I didn't feel anything."

Garou looked at her and replied "I heard the footsteps of 7 people earlier, you came inside while the rest were outside. Considering the fact you were walking ahead of the other 6 and how sneaky the steps seemed, it wasn't tough to guess that they were stalking you."

Esdeath nodded slightly, but she was shocked in the inside. Garou heard the footsteps? What kind of hearing does he have? She wondered.

Moments later, Garou left alongside Esdeath and her team, they were heading to the training ground Esdeath spoke about. The Jaegers followed their commander without knowing the reason. But seeing Garou with them and how excited their commander was, they all came to the same conclusion, this is not going to end well.

After an hour, Garou somehow managed to stop himself from beating Esdeath before the spar officially began. He stood on the training ground, it was head ground spreading dozens of kilometres in all directions. The area was divided into two halves by a small river, the first half was a forest, while the second was a desolate land of rocks and soil with no trees. The place was empty and far from any social gathering, a suitable location, indeed.

"So general, why did you bring us here? You said you will explain everything once we arrive" Wave said.

"I brought you here for special training to raise your skills and teamwork!" Esdeath answered.

"I see, and why Garou with us? Is he going to join our team" Wave asked again.

"Sadly no, Garou still refused to join. But he agreed to help us train" Esdeath smiled brightly at them.

"Oh, is he going to teach us how to fight like him ?" Seryu asked excitedly, she needed strength to fight against evil, and Garou fighting style and abilities proved to be at the very peak of the empire.

"It's better ! He will fight against us!" Esdeath smile grew brighter while her subordinates faces grew paler. They might have agreed to join her fighting against Garou if needed, but that didn't mean they wanted to seek the fight proactively.

"Isn't that great? Now all of you prepare for combat" Esdeath spoke excitedly, she was getting more excited as she thought about sparing against Garou. She was a battle maniac, and he was the perfect enemy.

The Jaegers wanted to cry, their commander obviously enjoyed combat and wanted to fight him again. She definitely didn't care about them improving, she just wanted to spend time with him. The group prepared for battle while stopping themselves from disobeying their commander.

If one were to ask Esdeath to rank this spar reasons by priority, she would say the excitement of battle is the most crucial reason followed by spending time with Garou and improving her team. With the latter being the least important reason.

"Listen up everyone, fight with all of your strength and go with intent to kill. Use your trump cards and all of your skills, if you have poison with you, then use it. Unless you fight with everything in your arsenal, you might get yourselves killed here !" Esdeath told her team the bitter truth, making them gulp. This fight was against Garou, and the man was not going to spar friendly with them or go easy on them. He was planning to make it a real battle, that won't stop until the opponent is dead or can't move a finger.

* * *

Hours later, Garou was sitting in the orphanage eating his dinner. He came back a few minutes ago, his clothes had some scratches, burns and a lot of dust covering them. It was clear he had a fierce battle. But no wounds covered his body, only his clothes suffered from the battle.

"What happened to the general and her team?" Himiko asked curiously.

"They are still alive if that what you are asking about" Garou replied

"They went back to the imperial palace, right?" Himiko said

"I don't think they will be able to go today, it won't be easy for them. Maybe tomorrow" Garou said casually.

His words made Himiko wonders what he did to them. One thing she was sure of, he definitely did not show them mercy.

* * *

Back in the training ground, Esdeath and her team were still there lying on the ground. Their bodies covered with bruises and wounds. No one of them had enough strength to go back. Even Esdeath herself was sitting tiredly on the ground, she was the one with the highest number of wounds.

"Is Garou really a human ?" Wave asked tiredly

"I don't think so, he is way too strong" Seryu answered, she was lying on her back. Her body was covered with bruises, next to her Koru, her teigu.

"He destroyed dr Stylish weapons with his hand as if they were children toys. He caught bullets and even canon missiles with his hands. Koru got overheated and still couldn't injure that monster" Seryu continued.

"Don't remind me, his blows nearly destroyed my armour and killed me in the process. Every part of my body screaming with pain" Wave added.

"My Teigu's flame didn't affect him, he seemed immune to heat" Bols joined.

"It didn't end there, he caught my feathers and deflected them back at me without even looking at my direction. How in the world he could it" Rin added

"It might be silly to say this, but Garou had one of two abilities if not both. The first one, he can see the future, that can explain his inhuman reaction speed. Or he can evolve during combat instantly just by watching. You might have not realized it yet, but each time we use an attack pattern or skill, Garou would change his combat style to counter us. Nothing worked against him more than once."

"He is by far the strongest warrior in the empire…. Hahahahahah... I already look forward to our next spar" Esdeath said. She was the only one beside Garou to enjoy the fight. Her words made her team groan at her.

The poor Jaegers had a long way to go. Thanks to Esdeath, being beaten and trampled by Garou will soon become a daily basis for them.


	26. Receiving Students

Receiving Students

Garou was sitting with Ari, Eren and Himiko, he was looking intently at the two kids who had determined looks in their eyes.

"I will ask you again, are you sure you want this? I will not go easy on you, you might even die, I won't hold back and won't allow you to relax or stop midway !" Garou spoke seriously.

"We know, we won't blame you if we got harmed or died ! We will not give up midway as well no matter what" Eren replied confidently.

"Ari, are you sure you want to do this? You are a girl" Himiko asked worriedly.

Ari nodded and replied "Being a girl won't stop me! You saw general Esdeath and how strong she was !"

"But she is a special case. You can't take her as an example !" Himiko was worried for Ari.

"Very well, you two starting from today will be training under me. I sincerely hope you will live after I'm done from you" Garou finally said. The two children were slightly disturbed by his words, but they still nodded, making Himiko sigh.

The twin suffered for years, living in a harsh environment. They had to sleep countless times without eating, and they could eat only if they worked hard enough. They couldn't enjoy their childhood like how a child supposed to enjoy it. And recently, some evil people coveted the little girl forcing them to escape. Still, they were caught by another evil group. If not for Garou, who knows how the two would have ended. Dying or living a life worse than death.

Garou came out of nowhere to save them, he was scary, scarier than anyone they had ever seen. But he still helped them when no one did. To them, he was their hero, their protector. Since his arrival, they didn't need to work to eat, they didn't have to sleep hungry. No one in the surrounding streets dared to talk badly to them in fear of Garou. They had a better life, a life they previously didn't even dare to dream of having.

Finally, a few days ago, Garou fought against the empire's strongest general. Their battle was something shocked the whole capital, they would never forget what they saw that day. How everything got destroyed because of their battle, how the sky rained huge ice blocks, and how Garou returned victorious.

Although Garou has injured the general and destroyed part of the streets, no one punished him or spoke badly of him. He even went to the royal palace and came back with no one speaking of the consequences of his actions … No! No one dared to speak. Garou was powerful enough to take on the strongest general and her elite team without sustaining any injuries. He could walk into the imperial palace and leave with no one able to stop him.

The twin understood that what allowed Garou to do whatever he pleased was his strength. A strength that made everyone bow their heads to him in fear of what he could do. They wanted to be like Garou, they didn't want it to act as they pleased or oppress others. They wanted strength to control their fates, to live peacefully with no one looking down or try to harm them. Garou was here to help them, but is he going to help them for the rest of their lives? They wanted to be able to solve their own problems with their own strength.

Garou understood the intention of the two kids, that's why he agreed to train them. He didn't give up on returning to his original world! If the day that he could return came, then the orphans would suffer.

* * *

In the imperial palace, The young emperor was sitting on his throne with the minister next to him. Below him, Bodou, Esdeath and the 6 Jaegers were kneeling before him. The young emperor wasn't smiling like usual but had a serious look on his face.

"General Esdeath, we heard you have been training alongside your team with that man, Garou. Is that true?" The emperor asked

"Yes, your majesty" Esdeath answered honestly.

"When are you going to train with him again ?" He asked again, everyone thought the young emperor was still angry about what happened, he didn't plan to ambush, Garou did he?

"Today" Esdeath answered as her eyes looked curiously at the emperor.

"Good, we would like to accompany you today and meet him" The emperor spoke.

"What? Why would you want to meet him again, Your majesty? He is too dangerous" The prime minister spoke with a shocked tone.

"I hate to agree with the prime minister! But he is right, Garou is too dangerous. If he attacks you, we won't be able to protect you" General Bodou spoke with a worried tone. His arm was reattached and functioning like before. But he still remembered how easy Garou took him down, how defenceless he was before that monster. Bodou might not admit it or show it, but inside of himself, he knew Garou left a seed of fear sprouting inside his heart.

"We know that. We are going to meet him today with General Esdeath, and this is final! No one allowed to speak against our will" The young emperor spoke with an authoritative tone.

"But …." the prime minister wanted to say something, but the emperor interrupted him.

"Minister Honest, Our decision is final, and you are not allowed to speak against it. If you dare to speak again, then you are questioning our authority, We don't want to punish you !" The young emperor spoke coldly as he looked at the minister.

Everyone was shocked by his actions, the emperor who always put the minister's opinion first, was now refusing it entirely and even threatening to give a punishment.

"We will leave with General Esdeath and her team in an hour to meet Garou. General Bodou, you will be coming with us as well. No one else allowed to follow" The emperor gave his final order leaving no place to talk.

"Yes, your majesty" everyone bowed their heads and answered at the same time.

The young emperor left his throne to his room, he was going to prepare himself. The prime minister stood in his place, gritting his teeth, he clenched his fists as he looked at the retreating kid.

He didn't know what the emperor wanted from Garou, but he knew that his control of the emperor started slipping since that day. The kid didn't want to listen or speak to him, he would just sit alone thinking on his own. He had a terrible feeling about whatever the kid was thinking.

[Things can't continue going like this !] He spoke in his heart.

* * *

An hour later, the emperor, alongside his subordinates, were standing in front of the orphanage. They knocked on the door, a moment later it was opened by a cute young girl. She had a similar age to the emperor, she looked at the group then spoke "Hello General, Garou is inside. I will call him now !"

She ran inside again, leaving the group at the door, Esdeath and her team didn't mind the girl. But the emperor frowned at her, while general Bodou spoke "How dare she leave us here ! His majesty with us !"

Esdeath answered with a smirk "She didn't know his majesty, so please don't bother with her. Also, if you speak or do anything against her, there is a good chance Garou will be gunning for your head."

Bodou stiffened a little as he looked at her angrily. The emperor finally spoke, "It's fine general. I don't mind it, we are not here to pick fights."

"I understand your majesty, and I'm sorry for my behaviour" Bodou apologized with a bow.

Moments later, Garou came out with the girl and another boy who looked a little similar to the girl. Garou looked at the two new faces and spoke "What is this about? Why these two are here?"

"Hello, Mr Garou" The emperor spoke first.

"You are not here to greet me, are you? What do you want little brat" Garou asked casually

Against Garou's expectations, the emperor didn't show any anger, he spoke calmly "That's right, we will be straightforward with you. We are here to ask you to teach us how to fight for ourselves !"

Esdeath and the rest were shocked, they didn't see this coming. The emperor lived his whole life sheltered without seeing blood or fighting, he had never carried a weapon. In fact, Bodou's blood and fight were the first violent thing he had ever seen.

Garou frowned at the boy "Why do you think I will teach an annoying snotty brat like you?"

The emperor clenched his fists and replied "Because as you said, I need strength, only my own strength is a true strength."

"That is no reason" Garou didn't care.

"I want to be a true emperor! A true ruler, a person commanding with his own strength" The boy spoke

"Stupid reason ! I will let you try one last time" Garou replied with narrowed eyes.

The emperor was silent for a moment before saying, "I want to be a better emperor for myself and for my people. I want to protect them with my own strength. The traitors are threatening my empire and my people safety. Until now, I kept sending general Esdeath to do my own job! I don't want to continue like this. Please teach me !" The emperor spoke with all of his heart before bowing to Garou.

Everyone looked at the emperor with shock, the boy actually bowed to someone. An act that should never be done by an emperor. Ari and Eren looked confused, while Garou looked unmoved, but if someone were to look carefully, they would see a gleam of approval in his eyes.

Garou was no king, but he knew for a ruler to be willing to lower his head to someone to give his people a better life, is a ruler worthy of respect. If it were anything else, Garou would have ignored him. But the kid showed his will and desire to be a good emperor.

"Very well, you will be training with me. I don't care about your status, emperor or not, you will be treated the way I like, and you will drop the 'we' thing in your speech. I won't allow you to give up nor show you mercy. You will be treated like these two over here" Garou pointed at Ari and Eren, then continued, "If I don't like your behaviour or dedication, I will beat you thoroughly, got it ?"

"Yes" The emperor replied with determined eyes.

The rest were still shocked by what they heard, especially Eren and Ari who just realized they will be training under Garou alongside the emperor himself.


	27. Respect & Plans

Respect & Plans

"Enough for today, your stamina is pathetic beyond description, we barely started, and you already like this. And you little emperor, even a girl performed better than you! I feel sorry for your empire already. Anyway, go take some rest" Garou spoke to the children, who were laying on the ground breathing heavily. The kids barely had the strength to move a muscle.

Garou turned around and looked at Esdeath and her group, Esdeath had her usual blushed face, her team had griefed faces while Bodou was looking at him as if he killed his whole family.

"You went overboard. This is the first time for his majesty, he had never had any physical training before, yet you put him in such a mad training. Even in the army, we don't train soldier like this !" Bodou spoke against Garou's method.

"That explains why the soldiers are so weak and slow! I only gave them simple practices, for now, when they get better I will up their training" Garou replied

"Simple? Up their training? You crazy bastard! You made them run for hours while you kept throwing stones at them. Each stone was as deadly as a gun bullet! If it hit any of them, they would have died." Bodou was enraged. Garou's training was a deadly one, Bodou knew if he were to be hitten by Garou's projectiles then he will definitely feel a lot of pain or directly go to the hospital when he is not prepared for the impact, let alone the emperor and the little twin with him.

"I already said I won't show mercy or hold back. They are not allowed to stop midway, you are free to bark, but I won't let you interfere. If you dare to mess my training sessions, I will destroy you thoroughly" Garou replied, his eyes narrowing dangerously at Bodou.

"It is fine General, we appreciate your worries, we decided to go this path for our..." The young emperor who barely stood on his legs was trying to calm Bodou, but he was interrupted by a backhand slap to the back of his head.

"I told you to drop the 'we'" Garou said coldly.

"Sorry sir" the emperor said with teary eyes while holding the place where Garou hit him. Bodou clenched his fist but couldn't do anything. What he didn't know, Garou would have never harmed the children, he was aiming to miss them by a small margin. In fact, even if they stood in their place, the stones wouldn't have touched them. Garou's aim was more accurate than a sniper. The general and the rest didn't know this and thought Garou was only cruel and short-tempered like usual.

"Now it is your turn, I hope you will perform better than yesterday !" Garou spoke as he eyed the Jaegers. The group shuddered except for Esdeath who was on the contrary quite excited.

"I would like to join general Esdeath, and her team" General Bodou said, he knew he couldn't compete against Garou 1 vs 1. But teamwork with Esdeath and a group of elites all equipped with imperial arms would definitely be able to beat this bastard down.

"Suit yourself !" Garou didn't mind it, the more they are, the better it will be.

The Jaegers and Esdeath didn't care much, Bodou will be able to help them last few minutes more against Garou or even injure him if their teamwork was good enough. But to win? Bodou was nowhere near enough to close the ridiculous gap. Moreover, it seemed Garou has quite the resistance to lightning just like fire if their last encounter was anything to go by, meaning Bodou's overall value in combat significantly reduced.

Moments later, all the Jaegers excluding Esdeath were laying on the ground with some burns covering their bodies. The group glared resentfully at Bodou who lost his unconscious. Garou began provoking Bodou from the beginning causing the latter to explode with anger thanks to his short temper.

Bodou attacked Garou madly while Garou only dodged and ran all over the place. Bodou continued attacking madly even when Garou got close to his teammates. Thanks to this, Bodou injured the Jaegers who had no time to react. Esdeath was the only one to create ice walls around her to protect herself from Bodou's attacks.

Once the jaegers were down and seeing Esdeath blocked the attack, Garou moved closer to Bodou and knocked him down instantly. Adding Bodou didn't only prove to useless but even harmful. The Jaegers alongside Esdeath can last much longer alone.

Esdeath wanted to continue alone, but Garou spoke "Enough for today, no need to continue." he then turned to the awed children, who were watching from the side and lectured "This is what happens when a muscle head with short temper and a lot of firing power lose himself to anger in a fight! He took down his own teammates and sabotaged every chance of fighting back. And make no mistake, I'm not saying to not feel anger or keep calmness and that kind of bullshit. Get angry as much as you want, but keep yourself in control. A controlled rage will help you to fight much better than complete calmness. Anger is the fuel for your strength, if not controlled, it will burn you, but when you control it, it is one of your strongest weapons."

The children nodded their heads in awe to Garou. Esdeath and her team were shocked, they didn't think about it before! They always thought and heard one should keep themselves calm during a fight no matter what happens. But now thinking about it, anger can truly let people fight beyond their capabilities.

The Jaegers and Esdeath looked at Garou in a new light, he was not merely a short-tempered man with too much power or talent, he had a hidden wisdom within him. His actions distinguished him from others, the way he interacted with them, the mixture of strength, intimidation and pride he gave off. They looked at him with more respect than ever, not a respect for a superior fighter, but a person worth interacting with.

* * *

In night raid's hideout, Najenda gathered the assassins in the throne room. Behind her stood three men, the three of them carried the three beasts teigues. The axe, the flute and the water ring.

"I want you all to meet our new members, these are Sai, Kenshi and Gato" Najenda spoke as she pointed at the three. Sai was the one using the ring, he was a middle-aged man with black hair and average build. Next to him Kenshi, he was a young blond man in the early of his twenties, he had the flute. Finally, Gato, who was Kenshi's older brother, was also a blond man with a muscular build.

After the assassins welcome their new teammates, Najenda spoke again "The reason they are joining us is to ambush the Jaegers. The Jaegers are formidable opponents and a dangerous card the empire has. We need to remove them as soon as possible. Moreover, our spies in the palace informed us they have been training with Garou and Esdeath lately. There was even a report this morning saying, the emperor left with them alongside Bodou today. We can't allow this to continue, with each passing day, beating them becomes harder and harder !"

The assassins' faces darkened upon hearing the reports. They already acknowledged Garou as the strongest warrior in the whole empire, and him training a group of elite was not something they liked to watch. A group of elite warriors trained by a monster was not a joke.

"In a few days, our spies will pass false information about us to the empire. We will bait the Jaegers out and divide them before we strike them down." Najenda spoke

The assassins nodded with heavy hearts. The most dangerous mission for Night raid so far will start soon. They knew it would be the hardest battle so far, and some of them might even die.


	28. Garou Joins the Fun

Garou Joins the Fun

The next days continued the same, Garou will train the children then fight against Esdeath, Bodou and the rest. The children were improving fast under the crazy training regime provided by Garou. Similarly, Esdeath, Bodou and the Jaegers were improving as well.

Especially Bodou, who now was much calmer, after his first spar with Garou, he learned to control his anger. Even when Garou is provoking him, he still didn't lose himself to anger. He also started to develop some respect toward Garou. As a warrior, he couldn't help but admire Garou's strength and courage. He still didn't agree with how Garou trained the little emperor but seeing the boy himself not backing down. He stopped complaining but kept watching at all times in case something threatened the boy.

At the same time, Night raid leader kept herself busy with the revolutionaries. They were preparing their ambush for the Jaegers. It was a single time shot, they couldn't afford to fail. The assassins also didn't waste any time, they have been training harder than ever in the past few days, sharpening their skills, especially their teamwork.

And so the day has come, Esdeath received news of Nightraid leaving toward the north. She ordered her team to prepare, it was time to start their hunt. The Jaegers were more than happy to comply. They didn't know how strong Night raid assassins are but no matter what, they can't be anywhere near Garou's level. After fighting him so many times, they had the confidence to take down any opponent.

Before leaving, they headed toward the orphanage to meet Garou. They wanted to inform him about their leave and not being able to train with him for some time. The Jaegers were keen to skip their training sessions, the only one who felt regretful as Esdeath.

"You are leaving to hunt some rebels?" Garou asked he didn't care much about how the empire operated. But he was still confused, to send a group of their strongest fighter to hunt few idiots was an overkill. Shouldn't they reserve their strongest soldiers for dangerous enemies?

"Oh dear, they are not your typical rebels. They are the most dangerous of the rebels, a group of trained assassins, each of them extremely dangerous and regular soldiers can't contend against them" Esdeath said

Garou ignored her first sentence, he long since gave up on this woman. He had a feeling that even if he cut her tongue, she would find a new way to annoy him, might as well ignore her remarks. He replied "Good Luck."

Garou turned around planning to go inside, he was not interested in the empire's affairs, not even in the slightest.

"Wait! Why don't you come with us" Esdeath spoke suddenly

"Not interested, not to mention that I'm not a soldier and don't like to work for others" Garou dismissed her suggestion.

"Think about it, our enemy is a group of trained assassins with weapons as dangerous as ours. They might not be strong enough individually, but together they might prove to be a good challenge" Esdeath spoke hastily.

Garou frowned a little, he doubted her words. If he assumed that each assassin is as strong as any member of the Jaegers. Then they are still not strong enough to consider as a challenge. Even if their numbers are higher, they are still not enough. He was about to decline again when he thought of something, he asked "What kind of weapons they have ?"

Even if they are not strong enough, their weapons might be a good experience for him! Esdeath smiled slyly as she knew Garou was not interested. She spoke about the more exciting weapons "There is an assassin among them with a poisonous blade called Murasame, the blade can kill with a single cut. There is also another one with armour similar to Wave, it was said it can disappear, and no matter how much you try you can't locate him !"

A particular white armour gay came to Garou's mind, he pushed that thought to the back of his mind, it might be a coincidence Afterall, besides she said can't locate him. The guy he fought was easily found, he only went invisible but didn't hide anything else such as smell, presence or sound.

"Very well, I will come with you! But If we find them, I want to have the first shot at them. No one of you allowed to interrupt me!" Garou laid his condition.

"Sure, but once you are done with them, I want to have my share of fun !" Esdeath agreed instantly

"No problem" Garou smirked.

The Jaegers on the side sweated at the two conversation, they couldn't help but feel some pity for night raid. Two demons are hunting the poor assassins.

"Ummm… Can I make a request ?" Korume walked forward and spoke

Esdeath and Garou looked at her along with the rest of her teammates. She spoke "Can you leave Akame for me?"

"Akame?" Garou frowned, he heard this name before but couldn't remember where.

"She is Kurome older sister, she betrayed the empire and joined our enemies." Esdeath clarified

"She betrayed me, betrayed our memories and our friends. I want to take her down myself" Kurome spoke with a calm tone, but the people present heard a hidden anger and sorrow from her.

"Okay, she is yours !" Garou agreed, seeing how the lonely girl acted. Kurome nodded gratefully at Garou, she knew if he refused, then there was nothing she could do but watch him take down her sister.

"Esdeath, send someone to the capital to inform the brat about our leave. Also tell him, if he slacked off when I'm not here, he would not like what I will do to him" Garou spoke.

The Jaegers' eyes twitched, Garou didn't only want to inform the emperor about their leave, but, he also wanted them to threaten him. Garou nearly destroyed any dignity the little emperor had in their eyes. This was not the way to speak with an emperor !

"Sure" Esdeath agreed without any hesitation making the Jaegers sigh.

* * *

Sometime later in the palace, a soldier conveyed Garou's words to the emperor while excluding the threat part and was much politer.

The young emperor heard the soldier patiently then said with a smile "Knowing my teacher and how he speaks, he would never talk like this, I'm betting he threatened me, didn't he?"

Unknowingly, the emperor stopped referring to himself with 'we' and started using 'I' instead. All thanks to Garou. In return, the soldier coughed in embarrassment as he replied, "You are the wisest your majesty."

"You can leave" The emperor said, the soldier sighed in relief and retreated.

"General Bodou, I would like you to help me train while teacher is away with General Esdeath" The emperor spoke to the present general.

"If I may say, your majesty… Why are you training? As the emperor, you should sit on your throne and order the people around you" The prime minister finally spoke.

"And stay weak like this? Even a girl is stronger than me !" The emperor replied.

"But you have the ultimate Teigu under your command !" The minister tried to convince him.

"Even so, I still need to be strong in case I couldn't use it! In addition, the stronger I'm, the better I can use the Teigu" The emperor explained.

"But..." The minister was about to say something but the little emperor didn't allow him "Enough ! I made my decision, you are not allowed to question me. You are to perform your responsibilities and tasks like usual, and that's all."

The emperor left with Bodou the throne room. The prime minister remained in the room watching with cold eyes.

"I can't allow this to continue ! He is not listening to me anymore. If I knew it would end up like this, I would have killed this little dog a long time ago, along with his foolish parents." The minister cursed internally.

He initially kept the boy because he was the only one to control the supreme teigu and was easy to control. But now, he was not listening to him anymore. If he won't listen, then he didn't need to continue living. But the issue was Garou, if hey killed the little emperor, he might become the receiving end of that monster's wrath, and he had no doubt Esdeath and Bodou won't go against him, not like they could stop him anyway.

Garou presence brought the prime minister a lot of headache. If the prime minister had enough strength, then he would have ripped Garou to pieces and fed him to dogs. He truly hated Garou more than anyone else.


	29. The Ambush

The Ambush

Esdeath led her team and Garou for the hunt, their prey was Nighraid group. At the same time, Nightraid were preparing for the incoming battle, and they wanted to be the hunters instead of the prey. Meanwhile, in the capital, the prime minister was shoving food in his thought madly as if he didn't eat for weeks, inside the dining hall.

" Slow down! You are eating like a beggar " A man clad in a black coat entered the dining hall and spoke to the minister.

The prime minister stopped eating and said " If you weren't my son, I would have ordered the guards to execute you "

" You look frustrated; what happened while I was away?" The man spoke

" Ooh, Syura! You have no idea how depressed your father is lately. And all because of that bastard !" The prime minister replied angrily.

"Mmmm... Start from the beginning " Syura was interested, whatever caused his father to be this angry, surely must be something interesting.

The prime minister started explaining the reason of his anger, he spoke about Garou and how he started losing control, how Garou changed Esdeath and scared Bodou followed by how the little emperor started acting out of his control. The prime minister didn't forget to curse Garou and everyone while at the same time eating.

If any other person saw the prime minister now, he would feel disgusted. He resembled more of a mad pig than a man. The combination of eating, cursing and talking with grief was not something people would want to see. Luckily, his son was not bothered by it; probably, he was already used to it.

Once the prime minister done talking, Syura replied " Interesting! I didn't expect I would hear something like this upon my return. Where can I find Garou ? "

" Why do you want to find him ?" The prime minister asked.

" In my last letter, I wrote to you about the team I was forming. You remember, right ?" Syura said.

The prime minister nodded as he said " You wanted to call it Wildhunt, didn't you? "

Syura grinned and replied " Correct! I want to invite Garou to join my team."

The prime minister blinked then replied in a sarcastic tone " Did you become deaf in your last trip? I believe I told you a moment ago about that freak."

" I didn't, but think about it. You said Garou is wild and freakishly strong with no fear or respect. He is suitable to join my team. I need cold-blooded monsters like him hehe." Syura replied

The prime minister frowned " Esdeath couldn't convince him to join nor force him. I doubt you will be able to do it."

" Esdeath is only a war maniac; she is not as persuasive as me. No man can refuse riches, fame and women " Syura replied confidently.

" I don't think it will work. Garou is just like Esdeath, a battle maniac." The prime minister shook his head

" We will see about that. But I will admit it; I'm jealous of him. To make Esdeath fall for him! If not for that woman absurd strength, I would have fucked her to death years ago. She is one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen." Syura licked his lips thinking about Esdeath body.

Hearing his son words, the prime minister stopped bothering with him. He said, " Be careful, I might not be able to help you if you mess this up."

The prime minister then continued eating while his son left the dining hall.

* * *

Hours later, in one of the small cities in the north, Esdeath was listening to the reports her team gathered from soldiers and the spies in this city.

" So Nightraid members were seen splitting into two groups, one led by Najenda and they head toward the east while the other group led by Akame and headed toward the west. " Esdeath said, confirming everything she heard.

" That's Right, it seems suspicious for me " Rin answered.

" They shouldn't have been spotted that easily, let alone being seen splitting into two groups, that's too good to be true. So either they let their guard down too much, or they are baiting us. " Esdeath said

" Toward the east, the religious cult headquarter, while toward the west, cities friendly to the rebels. As I see it, it is more likely to be a trap. " Bols added

" Do they want to divide us so that they could ambush and defeat us? " Seryu asked

"probably" Wave answered, making Seryu growl and call them evil.

" What do you think, Garou? " Esdeath asked Garou, who remained silent the whole time.

" It is a trap. I'm betting Nightraid want us to split into two teams as well while their group will at some point gather outside the city and set ambush somewhere in the east or the west. On the other hand, one of our two teams will walk into the trap While the other will walk away and maybe even encounter some force to busy them and make sure they think that they are in the right direction." Garou answered.

If Najenda were present, she would have cursed Garou's entire family. The plan they made weeks ago and prepared for was anticipated casually by Garou.

Esdeath nodded to Garou and said, " That's like Najenda."

" What will we do? " Rin asked

" We will split like they wanted us to and hunt the. Me, Garou, Seryu and Rin will head after Najenda, while the rest of you will go after Akame." Esdeath said

" What if they outnumbered us? " Dr stylish asked.

"If you were outnumbered or thought you can't win. You are allowed to retreat, preserving your lives come first " Esdeath asked.

" Today, we will hunt down these assassins once and for all. I hope everyone will be safe so that we can celebrate tonight our victory." Esdeath said raising the morales of her team.

* * *

Two hours later, The second team, led by dr stylish, were still moving forward. For kilometre after kilometre, they didn't see anything or any trap.

" Could the trap prepared for the other team? " Wave asked

" We can't be sure. They need to keep us away from each other, as far as possible. For now, keep your guard up." dr Stylish answered.

" I see something ahead," Kurome said

Far in the distance, a shadow of what seemed to be a person standing in the middle of nowhere.

" Prepare for combat and keep moving, " dr Stylish said.

The group kept moving toward the shadow when they reached it. They relaxed a little.

" It turned out to be a scarecrow!" Wave sighed

" Probably one of the tribes in the near mountains. They are known to create similar dolls and stands for their imaginary gods " dr stylish added.

" Let's keep moving." dr Stylish said when suddenly the scarecrow burst. A huge man with blue hair appeared from the inside. The man had an enormous weapon. He was aiming for the unsuspecting Kurome.

Before the man could hit Kuromo, Wave intercepted the blow. He was already wearing his imperial arm. Thanks to his training with Garou, he learned to activate his imperial arm instantly and to react immediately upon feeling danger.

If not for that, he might have received quite the damage from the blow or even worse. He might not have been able to protect kurome at all.

The attacker retreated upon seeing his attack fail. He took stance preparing for the battle, behind him a group of people gathered with their weapons readied for battle.

The four Jaegers did the same; they knew this is going to be a hard battle. The enemy had eight assassins out in the open and probably more hiding in the shadows waiting the right time to make a move.

* * *

At the same time, the first team led by Esdeath were staring at the army of bandits around them. Esdeath frowned at them and looked at Garou who said, " It means all the fun on the other side."

Esdeath nodded and said " Let's clear this place first, then we will head back "

Garou dismounted from the horse and said, " You do the cleaning, I'm going after Wave and the rest."

" Garou, wait ..." Esdeath wanted to stop Garou, but it was too late. Garou already left.

" He is going there without a horse? " Rin asked.

" I believe he is faster than a horse," Seryu said.

" Tsk... Let's kill these fools fast. I don't want to miss all the fun " Esdeath said with an annoyed tone.

" I think we won't make it regardless," Rin said before joining the other two.

The bandits were going to have a bloody end.


	30. Night Raid Vs The Jaegers - Part 1

Night Raid Vs The Jaegers - Part 1

Night raid members didn't waste any time; they surrounded Wave and the rest blocking their escape route. Night raid were outnumbering their opponents with almost 3 to 1 ratio. This battle was going to be one-sided if not for Kurome Teigu which summoned corpse dolls to their aid and dr Stylish who had few of the strongest modified soldiers on his side. These corpse dolls and soldiers didn't give them an overall advantage but still reduced the gap in power considerably.

Unfortunately for the Jaegers, Kurome could summon only three corpse dolls; the giant danger beast, the gunner and her childhood friend Natala, since Garou destroyed the rest during the first training session. Kurome internally regretted using them back then. It was not easy task to get her hand on top quality corpse dolls.

The battle began with dr Stylish transforming into a giant monster. The monster had human-like shaped body with a huge mouth in the middle of the chest, while the upper half of dr Stylish body took the place of the monster body. Stylish's hair turned silver while his eyes glowed yellow, his both arms fused with the monster body. Below him, five enhanced soldiers stood preparing for the battle.

Stylish charged toward Night raid's leader Najenda, but Susanoo stopped him, and so the first pair started battling. Near them, the soldiers began fighting Najenda.

At the same time, Tatsumi and Gato teamed against Wave, while Leone took attack, Natala. At the side, the gunner moved toward Mine. Also, Bols attacked Akame. Lubbock, Kenshi and sai struck the huge danger beast. Only Chelsea remained hidden waiting for opportunity to strike down the Jaegers. As for Kurome, she stayed at the side, focusing on controlling her puppets. Summoning them reduced her combat efficiency significantly.

And so a chaotic battle began between the Jaegers and Night Raid in all directions. The odds seemed to be equal at first look, but in reality, the Jaegers were losing their ground slowly. Najenda was busy with the enhanced soldiers, but she was still able to pressure them and even have the advantage. On this front, Najenda was going to win given enough time.

Wave fought equally against two Teigu users. He even was pressuring his two opponents all thanks to his training with Garou. Compared to Garou's inhuman strength and speed, these two were nothing. Similarly, Bols didn't have any trouble keeping up with Akame speed, she was still faster than him, but compared to Garou, she was not all that fast.

As for dr Stylish, he was having trouble handling Susanoo, his opponent was exceedingly strong and fast, adding the fact his huge monster-body made him easy target didn't help. Dr stylish was losing his foot slowly.

Kurome was sitting on a rock focusing her attention on the three assassins fighting her beast doll. The three assassins teamwork couldn't be considered perfect but was still good enough to handle the beast. Her gunner doll was trading bullets with Mine far in the distance, from the look of it the two were equal with no one of them able to take advantage over the other party.

Leone was having the hardest time among her teammates; her opponent was slightly weaker than her and had about the same speed. But Natala was far more skilled than her and had a large and sturdy spear to boost. Although Natala was not able to defeat Leone swiftly, he still gave her a lot of wounds, she might have a good recovery speed, but that was still not good enough to turn the tides. If the two continued like this, she might lose her life.

Back to Najenda, She threw one of the soldiers toward another one, then she moved to the closer one and punched his head with all of her might destroying it in one blow. She then turned around while pointing her iron fist toward another one. Her iron fist was launched like a canon toward the unsuspecting soldier before he could react the iron fist made a hole in his chest killing him instantly.

Najenda turned around, and dodge a blade moving toward her neck before the attacker could continue his attack, Najenda kicked him with all of her strength. And followed by swinging her iron arm toward him, the weaponized arm which was still coming back in the middle air moved in an arc and hit his head from the top nailing the head inside the neck in a very gruesome manner.

In just a moment, three out of five were already killed by her, showing she deserved to be the Night Raid leader and previously a known general in the empire. Even without a weapon, she was still a stronger fighter than elite soldiers, not including the Teigu users.

Stylish who was still fighting against Susanoo saw the death of his soldiers got enraged, even more, he was receiving beating by some weird guy, and now his strongest soldiers were being killed off easily by the Night Raid leader.

Stylish immediately changed his target from Susanoo to Najenda. He charged toward her with intent to finish her off while she was not paying attention to him. The two remaining soldiers saw their master charing toward the silver-haired woman, so the two of them attacked at the same time hoping to slow her down so the master could finish her for good.

As Stylish was expecting, Najenda was truly not paying attention to him, by the time he reached her and his fist descended upon her and the two soldiers fighting her, she finally noticed him. Najenda widened her eyes as she realized she fell for her enemy trick; the two soldiers in front of her were expendable tools. But she was too late to react. The fist struck down, crushing everything underneath it.

Stylish laughed proudly, he started raising his fist while still smiling at his achievement, killing the ex-general and the leader of the enemy, but his laughter stopped as he had a surprised expression on his face. Below his fist, he found only two corpses, and they were his soldiers, Najenda's body was not there!

" That was a good try, but you underestimated Susanoo's speed " Najenda's voice rang from his side, Stylish turned around to look at her, his face was showing unrestrained fury. She was standing there without any injury besides the guy he was fighting earlier.

" I will crush you eventually! Just wait " Stylish angrily spoke as he charged toward them again. Najenda saw Stylish blinded by rage. She immediately made use of his anger by shooting her arm toward his visible body.

Stylish immediately used the monster arm to block the attack. At the same time, he spoke " It is useless ! "

When stylish lowered the monster arm, he was shocked to see Susanne right behind it, only then he realized he fell for Najenda's trap. When he blocked the first attack, he also blocked his eyesight, making him lose track of Susanoo, now Susanoo was close to his defenceless body.

Stylish in a desperate attempt to save himself, made the whole monster body retreat to the back while trying to swing the arms at Susanoo, but it was too late. Susanoo was already close to him. He used his weapon to hit Stylish, luckily for him. His fast reaction, allowed him to keep his life, but Susanoo weapon shred through his infused arms to dismembering him mercilessly.

Stylish screamed in pain as the monster body fell at his back. When the large body hit the ground, Stylish upper body was diffused from the giant and fell on the hard ground. He returned to his original looks, but he was missing his upper body clothes and his two arms. He was laying on the ground screaming in pain.


	31. Night Raid Vs The Jaegers - Part 2

Night Raid Vs The Jaegers - Part 2

Wave who was still fighting against two assassins saw the sight of his teammate. He shouted angrily as his body exploded with alarming strength, he instantly struck at the two assassins, who were shocked by the sudden increase of the power. Wave managed to throw the two assassins away from him then charged toward dr stylish.

Susanoo landed near Stylish preparing to land the finishing blow when he suddenly sensed danger approaching him, Susanoo turned around and saw Wave near him. Wave punched Susanoo right in the face shooting him into the rocks. He then proceeded to carry dr Stylish away.

At the same time, The three assassins fighting against the giant worked together to take down the beast. Sai used the water to distract the creature, while Kenshi used his flute to enhance Lubbock physical strength. Lubbock used his trump card and weaved his wires around the beast body and with the addition of the physical enhancement, he pulled the wires with all of his strength, cutting the beast into pieces.

The three assassins were about to celebrate their victory. When suddenly, a blade stabbed through Kenshi's neck, the other two were shocked by the sight of their friend. Kurome stood right behind him when no one noticed her she sneaked near the one who seemed an easy target for her.

Kurome pulled her sword out and smiled at the other two assassins. She then immediately started running away. The two assassins froze only for a second before shouting angrily before sending their attacks toward her.

Bols in the distance saw this happening, he immediately pointed his weapon toward the two assassins attacks and fired. His fire bullets accurately travelled and intercepted the attacks. Akame saw Bols ignoring her, so she made use of the opportunity and stabbed toward him, but to her surprise, Bols blocked her stab with a metal guard in his palm. He then retreated and pointed his weapon at her before firing again.

This commotion didn't go unnoticed by the others, Tatsumi and Gato who just recovered from Wave blow saw the death of Kenshi. Gato eyes turned red, seeing his brother dying. He angrily shouted as he threw his axes toward Kurome.

Meanwhile, Natala, who was fighting against Leone, managed to chop off her arm cleanly, when he saw Kurome getting attacked, he immediately threw Leone to the side and moved toward his master. And just when the axes were about to hit Kurome, he appeared in front of her and blocked both of them.

Kurome seeing the things play like this, turned around and raised her katana with an evil smile on her face. Kenshi's corpse didn't have the chance to become cold before it turned into another corpse doll.

The sight of their teammate dying then turning into a corpse doll enraged the Night raid to no end. Kurome made use of this chance to move toward Bols with Natala, while at the same time sending a signal for her gunner to come back. Similarly, Wave carried dr Stylish and moved closer to Bols.

Akame, who was angry and still grieving the loss of her teammate, saw all the Jaegers charging toward her, cursed internally and retreated. She couldn't afford to be surrounded by all the remaining enemy at the same time.

Lubbock didn't want to allow the enemy to use their friend corpse to fight them. He used his wires to cut the body to pieces avoiding an unnecessary and painful fight. He then stared angrily at the Jaegers.

Mine who was busy with the gunner didn't know what happened, but when the gunner escaped, she came closer and realized what happened. She pointed her rifle at Kurome and shot a powerful beam of energy.

Bols noticed the incoming beam of energy, he moved in front of Kurome and shot at the beam. An explosion rang, pushing all the Jaegers back. When the dust cleared the Jaegers, all were fine, but Bols's weapon got destroyed !

The Night Raid glared murderously at the Jaegers who were beaten up. Currently, only Wave and Kurome were still able to fight. The fight has been going for nearly fifteen minutes. The Night Raid lost one of their members, and another one lost an arm. Aside from these two casualties, their members were still okay. As for Jaegers, no one died, but they were already exhausted, and two of them were not able to continue fighting.

The situation was grim looking for the Jaegers, and they had no chance of winning. Bols thought about it a little then whispered to his friends " Guys, do you still remember what my trump card is? I explained it when general Esdeath formed our team."

The other three Jaegers nodded; they understood what Bols wanted to do. Bols continued " Wave-san, please carry dr Stylish with you, Kurome still strong enough to run. We will run in a different direction, and no matter what happens. No one will turn back."

A sad look appeared on the Jaegers faces. They understood what Bols wanted to do. He will activate his trump card, which will self-destroy the remnant of his weapon. The explosion will be huge enough to cover them for some time as long as they run as hard as they could. They will have a good chance of survival. If Night Raid tracked them down, then only the slowest will be hunted down giving more time for the others to get as far as possible.

In this case, the slowest would be Bols, so if they went with this plan, his death was almost inevitable. But this was the best way to ensure the survival of some of them if not all the three.

Night raid were preparing to attack again and finish them for good. They didn't have time to speak or object Bols plan. They lowered their head toward him, making preparations for their escape. On the other hand, Bols stood and stepped forward, he took the weapon off his back and threw it toward Night raid.

Bols pulled out the trigger from his pocket when a voice interrupted him.

" Hope I didn't miss anything important."

Hearing the voice, Bols stopped in his tracks and stared to where the source came from. The owner of the voice strolled toward the middle. He kept walking until he reached the middle and stood there, between the two sides as if he was taking a walk in a park. The faces of the Jaegers brightened as the hope ignited in their eyes while the Night raid faces darkened.

The man turned toward the Night raid and spoke with a smirk " Oh... I see familiar faces here. So all of you have been part of Nightraid all along ! No wonder I thought Esdeath description familiar."

Night raid gripped their weapons harder than ever. Before them stood a man more dangerous than Esdeath.

Garou has finally arrived.


	32. Garou vs Nightraid - Part 1

Garou vs Nightraid - Part 1

"I was slightly looking to meet Nightraid and see what their weapons can do. But it didn't cross my mind I already met you. Honestly, I thought you were a group of barbarian bandits with flashy weapons. After all, you didn't strike me as elite assassins" Garou said with all honesty.

Garou was brutally honest with them to the point they, especially the one he met previously, were surprised. The surprise faces quickly changed into twitching ones, then to angry. They thought Garou was insulting them, he might be stronger than them but to think they were just a group of bandits, that was simply too much, they were still a group of proud assassins.

"It is great you are here, now we can fight them together" Wave said with excitement. He still didn't forget Garou beating the shit out of them. Now, having the chance to fight on his side and watch his enemies be at the receiving side instead of him gave him a sense of twisted satisfaction. The rest of his friends didn't speak, but they all had similar thoughts, fighting Garou so many times alongside their general could be said to change the way of their thinking to a certain degree.

Nightraid's assassins tensed while Garou turned around as his eyes narrowed dangerously and said " care to repeat? It seems I didn't hear you correctly"

If Wave was not wearing his armour, then everyone could see his excited face distorting into a scared one. He was familiar with Garou enough to know when the guy was annoyed. The face he was making is the same one when his general goes overboard with flirting. Wave gulped and stuttered " I-I said ..."

"If you are going to say, we will fight together then I will break your legs and feed you to Seryu's dog" Garou interrupted Wave. His words made Wave go silent, and his face, under the armour, went pale. Wave took a step to the back and said "I'm sorry sir, I will not do it again, I swear"

"Wave, Dr Stylish needs help, he lost a lot of blood already! We need to retreat now. Garou doesn't need our help" Bols spoke with a low voice from the back. Wave turned around and looked at his teammate and nodded. He and the rest retreated alongside Bols and Kurome, leaving Garou to face Nightraid alone.

Kurome was the last to move, she stared at Garou's back then at her sister. She wanted to be the one to take down her sister, she wanted to object and ask Garou to let her fight Akame one-on-one. But deep down, she knew she was going to lose. Summoning and controlling all of these dolls took a considerable amount of her stamina. She didn't have much of her strength left to fight against Akame, let alone kill her. Kurome could only retreat with a reluctant face, but she didn't give her sister a last sad look.

Truthfully, no one among them thought Nightraid stood a chance. Garou was undisputedly the strongest. Also, they knew his strength to a certain extent, he was someone capable of fighting two great generals alongside six elite Teigues users and win. They were only a little disappointed because losing the chance of seeing Nightraid's painful demise.

Nightraid's assassins watched the four Jaegers retreat without making any move. They weren't fools if they attacked the Jaegers, they would have to fight Garou alongside Wave and Kurome which will not bode well for them. Garou alone was enough to keep their hands full, not to mention they will have a higher chance of beating him. They had the number advantage and the fact he didn't know what they could do boosted their confidence. Unfortunately for them, they didn't see Garou sparing before if they did, then they wouldn't have been so optimistic about their chances.

"So you are Garou, I wanted to meet you since I heard about your encounter with my subordinates" Najenda spoke.

"Hoh... So you are the leader, your name was Najenda, right? Esdeath spoke about you" Garou replied casually.

"oh? Mind telling me what she said?" Najenda asked.

"I see no harm... The short version is, strength is slightly above average, but you are quite sly" Garou spoke with a smirk.

Najenda narrowed her eyes, she didn't like the way he put it, but it was valid to an extent, at least for a monster like Esdeath. She took a deep breath and said " Can I ask you why are you working for the empire?"

" When did I ever say I was working for them? " Garou replied.

Najenda was surprised, she couldn't help but ask "Then, why are you here? Is it not to kill us?"

Garou blinked and replied"Nope, I was curious about your weapons. Esdeath told me your group had a weird weapons like her team. So I decided to come and see for myself what your little group can do."

Najenda and the rest didn't expect such a reason. Najenda couldn't believe his words, so she asked again "Then why were you training with Esdeath and her team?"

"Do I need permission to hang out with others?" Garou replied with a question of his own.

Najenda stared blankly at him, she had a feeling he was speaking the truth. If his words were true, then her team lost a member and failed to kill her enemies because of someone thought it was interesting to see them fight. The more she thought about it, the angrier and more frustrated she became. Her subordinates had similar thoughts if their livid faces meant anything.

Garou simply didn't care about their faces and said "I believe you bought enough time, Your subordinates surrounded me. Now, we can start our battle, can't we?"

Najenda narrowed her eyes " You knew I initially was trying to buy time? Then why did you allow it?"

"It was obvious, you started talking with me while your subordinates started changing their position subtly." Garou replied casually then he looked around and shrugged " As for why I let it pass since you are a team, it would only right to let you take the optimal position for your teamwork before I fight you."

In his world, Garou wouldn't have allowed heroes to surround him and keep him at a disadvantage, especially the S-class. The reason was because they had supernatural abilities forcing him to a disadvantage, so he needed to find smart and skillfully to win. But here, he was a lot stronger and faster than his opponents, so he allowed them to move as they wish to give them a better chance and in return, push him more. The better they fight, the stronger he will become.

Naturally, Nightraid didn't know what Garou was thinking nor how strong he truly is. They believed he was simply too arrogant, and they saw it as his weakness, a weakness they could exploit. They stopped trying to move subtly and directly completed their encirclement. Of course, Garou didn't interrupt their preparations.

"If you are not working the Empire, then why don't you join us?" Najenda asked. If he agreed to join them, then Esdeath and Bodou and the rest of high-level warriors won't be a threat to them anymore.

"Join you? Why should I?" Garou asked back, he didn't expect her to try recruiting him here.

"You are not from the capital, so it is only natural you don't know about the darkness in the Empire, the evil lurking in the shadows and the people suffering." Najenda spoke with a deep and aggrieved voice.

Najenda stared at Garou, seeing him keeping his silence, she knew he was thinking about her words. She decided to push further and spoke " We are killers, assassins and criminals. We know that, but we only kill evil people. People who committed all kinds of unspeakable deeds. We know that no matter the reason, killing will always be killing, something unforgivable. But we are willing to carry the burden and the sins of our actions for a better future!"

Garou looked at Najenda silently without any change in his facial expression, while the assassins looked at their leader with awe and determination.

Garou stared for a few more seconds before he finally couldn't hold himself back and started laughing.

"Oh, god! And here I thought these politicians are hypocrites. You are the biggest hypocrite I have ever seen, one that stands above all."

The assassins glared at Garou, who was still laughing. Najenda narrowed her eyes and said "This is our convention, we won't allow you to laugh at it. It represents everyone fell so far for a better future."

Garou stopped laughing and looked Najenda with cold face, he spoke coldly "Is that how you convinced them to join you? You are nothing but a hypocrite, and those who fell are all brainless sheep. You said you kill the evil. Yet, the first time you met me, you attempted to kill me without knowing who I am! You said you are fighting for a better future. Still, all what you have been doing is tearing this country and its future. You spoke about killing and sins as if you are selfless heroes, sacrificing everything to protect the weak. You are the same kind as them, acting as if they were saints, but they are nothing but villains in hero costumes."

The assassins were shocked hearing Garou's words. They actually forgot about how they attacked him when he came too close to their base! He was injured and bloodied, yet they tried to kill him. Also, it seems he was comparing them to others, they were not sure who exactly, but from the tone and the words, they were sure it put them on his wrong side.

"I despise your kind the most! Lying whenever you could get benefits, tricking people into believing in you. Originally, I came here only to see what you are capable of. But now, I will shred you to pieces." Garou face was twisted with anger.

Najenda stiffened seeing Garou's reaction. Her heart pulse rate was increasing as fear was invading her mind. If she knew her words will cause Garou to react like that, she would have never said them.


	33. Garou vs Nightraid - Part 2

Garou vs Nightraid - Part 2

Garou not bothering to wait anymore, charged toward Najenda. The assassins were shocked by Garou's reaction, but they still reacted fast enough. Susanoo stood in front of Najenda protectively, while Gato threw his axes toward the dashing Garou from the right side. Simultaneously, Mine who was standing on top of the near mounting shot an energy bullet to Garou's left side. From behind, Tatsumi ran after Garou intending to strike him from the back.

In mere moments, Garou was in front of Susanoo, with an energy bullet heading to his head from the left, a flying axe to the neck from the right and an armoured fella right behind him. Garou was not worried in the slightest, he extended his hand and caught the axe midair, he then proceeded to throw it in the direction of the bullet flawlessly. The axe cut through the bullet. It flew directly toward the source with alarming speed, slightly faster than the energy bullet. Mine who saw the axe heading toward her ducked immediately avoiding a deadly injury.

Through all of this, Garou didn't slow down at all. He stood in front of Susano and punched out. Susanoo blocked the blow but not without him getting pushed back. Garou was not done yet, but Tatsumi caught up with him. Tatsumi stabbed toward the back of Garou with intent to kill him, but Garou was still faster. Without any delay, Garou rotated around while sending a kick changing the direction of the spear. He didn't stop his momentum there, he used his other leg to kick Tatsumi in the head sending him flying away.

Susanoo, seeing Tatsumi thrown away, didn't sit still, he attacked with his mace. However, Garou turned back and caught the mass with a single hand stopping Susanoo in his track. Behind Susanoo, Najenda jumped to the side and punched with her metallic arm. Garou looked a the approaching piece of junk and hit it with his free hand. Najenda's eyes widened as her metallic arm was shattered to pieces upon contacting Garou's arm. She cursed internally and jumped back to create some distance.

Garou felt a slight wind moving behind him and realized immediately someone was trying to attack him from a blind spot. He snorted lightly and rotated fastly with Susanoo's mace in hand, forcing Susanoo to rotate alongside him. Garou saw Akame pointing her katana at him and about to strike, but he didn't slow down, he used Susanoo's body as a weapon to hit Akame. The sheer force made Susanoo let go of his mace and get knocked away alongside Akame.

Garou looked back at Najenda, she was staring at him with visible fear. The way he took her subordinates one after another so quickly and destroyed her arm reminded her of Esdeath, but a much stronger version, she couldn't help but step back. He smirked and moved closer to her while still holding the mass. Suddenly, few knives came toward him from the side, Garou used the mace to block them and looked at the source. Lubbock stood there with wires surrounding him. Lubbock said "Don't get cocky!"

Garou didn't reply, he simply smirked and throw the mace toward Lubbock, who shaped his wires in front of him in the shape of a shield. Mace clashed with the shield and stopped momentarily before breaking through and hitting Lubbock in the chest, knocking him down. Lubbock coughed blood as his consciousness faded away.

Garou ignored the green dwarf and continued toward Najenda, but to Garou's displeasure, he was interrupted again. Sai manipulated all the water in the area and sent flying blades made of water toward Garou, who deflected them with ease.

Sai looked at Najenda and said hurriedly "If this continues, we will be defeated here! We should retreat for now and figure how to take him down later."

Najenda's mind started working again after hearing Sai, her eyes hardened as she ordered "Sai, Gato, Leone and Susanoo keep him busy. Tatsumi carry Lubbock and retreat. Akame go get Mine"

All Nightraid's members followed their leader's orders without delay. While Najenda retreated to get her tamed flying beast to carry them and leave this place.

Garou snorted when he heard them, retreat on his watch? It won't be that easy. He was about to go after Najenda again when water started surrounding him. Garou narrowed his eyes and looked at Sai, he began to get annoyed by him, this was the second time he interrupts him. Sai smirked seeing Garou's face not realizing the danger he was in, he spoke "Don't be in a hurry, let's play a little."

"Be careful, He is extremely dangerous and vicious" Leone said as she got closer. She still remembered her beating from the last time.

Gato stared at Garou with red eyes, to him Garou was the reason he couldn't avenge his brother. He hated Garou second only Kurome. Susanoo retrieved his mace and came back to encircle Garou alongside the others.

"Do you think a group of weaklings can stop me? Once I'm done with you, it will be that bitch turn" Garou said.

"We will not allow you touch boss even if we died here" Leone said with determination.

"Big words from an ant. What about this... by the end of the day your boss..." Garou paused for a moment and looked at them then his smirk widened as he pointed at Gato as he said cruelly "That axe will find a sheath in her body."

The assassins eyes hardened hearing his words, they won't allow Garou to have his way no matter what. Sai used the water to attack Garou from all direction and blocking Garou's vision, so his teammates attack become more effective. Garou rotated around destroying the water attacks around him. When he was done, Susanoo was upon him with his mace again. Unlike the last time, Garou didn't block the mace but attacked Susanoo's arms directly. Garou's arms blurred around Susanoo's arms before anyone could realize what happened, Susanoo's arms shattered like glass.

Susanoo looked with shock at Garou, who narrowed his eyes in return. Garou proceeded to punch Susanoo's head with enough force that the head exploded to pieces just like his arms. Under the horrified eyes of the Nightraid's assassins, Susanoo's headless and armless body fell on the ground with a thud sound.

"YOU BASTARD!" Gato charged angrily toward Garou, he swang his axe with all of his might. Still, before it could connect, Garou's fist slammed his face breaking his teeth and nose. Gato body flew and slammed into the rocks, his body was planted in the rocks as he was knocked out cold. Leone gritted her teeth and used her single arm to carry a huge rock and threw it with all of her might toward Garou.

Garou laughed as he redirected the incoming rock toward Sai with one of his hands while the other punched the rock shattering it to pieces. The result was small stones moving as if they were bullets. Sai tried to block, but he could only prevent few as the rest pierced his body. He screamed in pain as he fell down.

Garou looked at the shocked Leone and said "Am I the only one getting a deja vu here? You again is the last one standing against me"

Leone clenched her fist, she knew this battle was hopeless, but she refused to go down without trying at least. Just when she was to make one last desperate attack, she noticed Akame approaching them at full speed while carrying Mine on her back. Mine was pointing her gun at Garou.

Leone took a deep breath and steeled her eyes jumping at Garou if she could take all of his attention and get hit by Mine, then even if she died, it would be still worth it. Sadly for her, Garou noticed the change in her behaviour and the direction she looked at for instant. He knew another sneak attack coming his way. But he kept smiling without showing any sign of noticing it.

When Leone got closer to him, Mine shot her energy toward his back. The bullet was travelling with amazing speed, adding the relatively small distance separating them, it was near Garou almost instantly. Mine smiled as she shot, she was sure she was going to hit Garou. However, her smiling face turned into a horrified one almost immediately.

Garou suddenly rotated around with abnormal speed. The bullet, which was about to him moved with him as if it was single body then separated from him and continued toward Leone. The shot cut her remaining arm from the shoulder or shredded it for lack of better term. Leone fell on ground as Garou turned to look at the shocked Akame and Mine, he raised his hand which had lines of thin smoke coming from it.

"How cruel of you! Shooting your own friend. Assassins really are merciless group of bastards." Garou said mockingly.

"YOU FUCKER!" Mine cursed out loud.

"YOU BASTARD!" Tatsumi voice rang out from above.

Garou and everyone turned toward the voice, Tatsumi was sitting on top of a flying beast alongside Lubbock and Najenda. He was about to jump, but Najenda stopped him. She couldn't allow another one to fall under the hands of Garou.

The beast descended down as Najenda observed the sight with anger. Susanoo, Gato, Sai and Leone were injured by Garou. She had no doubt if Akame, Mine and Tatsumi were to attack him now, then they will join the rest. She took a deep breath then looked at Susanoo's body and said "Activate Trump card 'Magatama Manifestation'"

She fell on her knees as she felt her life force seeping away. On the ground, Susanoo's body started floating, and the shattered pieces started reattaching itself. Afterwards, Susanoo went under a transformation, his upper body became more muscular and naked, while his eyes turned golden and his hair to silver with purple shade. His mace became a long heavy sword.

"So this is your trump card? I guess it is similar to Koro's trump card. Increase in speed and strength, or maybe you have something else to show me?" Garou smirked seeing the transformation.


	34. Garou vs Nightraid - Part 3

Garou vs Nightraid - Part 3

"For my master, I shall defeat you here" Susanoo spoke as his heavy sword length started to increase, he swang with all of his might toward Garou. Garou tried to block the heavy blow directly with brute force, he failed to stop the sword and was pushed back a few meters. Garou was slightly amazed, he initially thought the increase would be around the same as Koro's. Garou didn't know Susanoo's trump card requires the sacrifice of the owner's life force, which means it gives a much greater boost compared to Koro's.

Although the power and speed boost was bigger than what Garou anticipated, it was nowhere near enough to defeat Garou. Garou estimated Susanoo's raw strength after the increase to be slightly above Esdeath's, making him the strongest opponent he has faced so far, at least in terms of raw power. As for his skill, Garou hoped Susanoo to be more than just muscles if so then he might be as strong as Esdeath or even stronger.

When Susanoo pushed Garou back, Sai used the small opportunity to get Leone to Najenda and the rest, he used his water to carry the armless Leone away. Garou saw this happening and ignored it, He had already defeated Leone, so keeping her had no meaning for him, his current target is Susanoo. Garou dashed toward Susanoo and punched him, but Susanoo used his sword to block the blow, but it was his turn to be pushed back. Garou's punch held more strength than Susanoo's sword blow.

Garou didn't attack again, he looked at Susanoo with his cocky smirk and said "I hope you still have more to show me. Otherwise, it would be too boring."

Susanoo gritted his teeth and attacked Garou, he swang his sword with all of his might, but to his dismay, Garou easily dodged the blows. Susanoo didn't stop nor take a break, he maintained his attack at the same pace. Garou in return kept dodging, but his smirk turned into a frown, it turned out his opponent barely had anything to show him. Susanoo was a palace of strength, and that's it.

Garou sighed lightly as he dodged again, he was excited for nothing, then his eyes turned sharp as he decided to start his onslaught. The next moment, Garou's fist blurred and tens of punches landed on Susanoo's body cracking it. Finally, Garou finished it with a powerful kick making Susanoo's body along with his core shatter like glass.

The assassins who gathered on top of the beast looked horrified, Susanoo might be a teigu, but they treated him and felt as if he was one of their own, a comrade and friend. As for Garou, he turned around to look at them and smirked, he said "Sorry, I broke your man-sized toy, I will make it up to you and break you as well."

His words enraged the assassins, but they had nothing they could do against him. They had to retreat immediately, else their fate would be the same. Sai, who was making his way toward them, stopped in his track, his leg was broken, and he was moving slowly. He knew he had no way to outrun Garou.

He looked at his comrades and said "Leave now! I will buy you some time" then he turned around to face Garou.

Tatsumi and Akame were about to jump and join him, but Najenda stopped them, she made the beast start flying as she said "His leg is injured and had no way to escape, so he chose to stay and buy us time. We can't let his sacrifice go in vain."

The assassins reluctantly stopped and watched sorrowfully as Sai faced Garou alone. On the other hand, Garou whistled as he said "Colour me impressed, I didn't see this one coming considering how useless you are."

Sai looked coldly at Garou, he replied "Regardless of what you think of us, the moment we walked this path, we prepared to suffer hardships and even die for our cause, we are ready to sacrifice. What about you? Do you think yourself great? Maybe some mighty hero? You have all this strength yet you don't do anything to change the unfairness in this world, people like you are the worst! You are just a monster! In the end, the likes of you will be crushed!"

Garou smirk disappeared as he looked coldly at Sai, he didn't want to waste more time on this, he decided to finish Sai then catch the silver-haired bitch. Garou's body dashed toward Sai, in an instant, he stood in front of him. Sai face had the same determined eyes not flattering in front of Garou. Garou was slightly impressed, so he said "Any last words?"

"Yeah, I just." Sai gave a weak and helpless smile then the smile turned into a mad one " GOT YOU!"

To Garou's surprise, Sai's veins exploded, and needles made of blood came out of his body, aiming for Garou. Garou hurriedly blocked the needles, except for one that managed to graze his cheek. Garou looked at Sai's body, which was a corpse now, Sai was the first one to damage him after Esdeath. He had to admit the man resolve was admirable, and he felt a little pity for the man.

"It doesn't matter what world I'm in. The system is the same, the dependency and blindness are just the same" Garou mumbled to himself.

Suddenly, the sound of a bullet being shoot resounded in his ear. Garou looked toward the assassins and saw Mine just shoot a bullet, but it was not aimed at him. Garou was confused for a moment.

He was focused on Sai and his own thoughts, that he didn't notice Najenda orders Mine to shoot. Najenda knew Sai had no hope of survival today, but they still had one last shot to take down Garou. It was Bols Teigu. She forced Mine to shoot the Teigu regardless of what was going to happen to Sai and Gato who was still planted in the rocks.

Garou watched the energy beam as it headed in a relatively far distance from him. He looked at the direction of the trajectory, and his eyes narrowed. He saw Bols Teigu there, he instantly understood what the assassins want to do, he snorted and looked back at them.

The next instant, the energy bullet hit the Teigu and shone with a blinding light followed by a terrifying explosion. The explosion was strong enough that the flying beast which was over a hundred meters away lost it's balance for a little before it could fly straight again. In fact, the booming sound and the explosion shape could be seen and heard from miles away.

"Did he die?" Tatsumi asked.

The rest didn't answer him, they stared at the destruction covered by endless flames and smoke. Moments later, Leone spoke "I can't see any way someone could survive an explosion like that in the face. We should celebrate this."

The rest turned around to look at her, Akame said with grieved tone"Sai, Gato, Kenshi and Susanoo all died for this. Can we really celebrate?"

Leone lowered her head while the assassins were silent. Many of their friends died today, they might be prepared for death, but watching your friends die in front of you still hurt all the same. As the assassins were still grieving their friends, the sound of something piercing through the air resounded in their ears. All of the turned immediately back only to see Gato's axe near them moving toward Mine. Before any of them could react, the axe connected with Mine's gun and cut it in half then proceeded toward her arm, severing it. Mine screamed in pain as tears filled her eyes as she fell on her knees.

"MINE!" Akame/Leone/Tatsumi all said the same time, and before they could get closer to her or understand what was going on. The sound of thud heard from their side near their boss.

The three looked at their boss side and got shocked even more. She was lying on her back with the axe implemented in the middle of her chest. As Akame and Tatsumi stared dumbly at their injured friends, Leone looked back toward the explosion area, and her shocked face was replaced with horrified one.

"NO! NO! HE IS MONSTER" Leone said frantically.

Tatsumi, Akame and Mine who was still in pain, looked in the same direction. Their faces paled as they saw a black shadow walking from inside of the flames. The shadow cleared and became visible, it was Garou. His clothes were burned in different places and had black marks all over his body, but no visible injuries.

The beast flew away, carrying the injured and shocked assassins to safety. Garou stood there staring, he didn't try to catch them or stop them, despite being able to. He crushed them completely and hunting them further was meaningless.

On top of the beast, Leone stared at Garou for sometime before looking back toward Mine, who was being treated by Tatsumi, and Najenda, who was being treated by Akame. She spoke in a despaired voice "He said he will make the boss body a sheath for the axe, and he did it! He is a monster, how are we supposed to beat him? Can we even do that?"

The remaining assassins didn't answer, she asked the same questions burdening their hearts and minds.

In this mission, Nightraid utterly failed. They lost four people including Susanoo, four Teigus execulding Susanoo and three other members were heavily injured or even crippled. Today, they lost more than half of their total combat force. On the other hand, The Jaegers lost only one Teigu.


	35. Change

Change

Garou watched the beast flying away with the defeated assassins. He didn't follow them as he had no reason to hunt the beaten dogs. Besides, he had no intention to kill anyone from the very beginning. He only came here in hope for some challenge and increase his own power, as for stopping Nightraid it has nothing to do with him. However, Najenda's hypocritical words angered him, in addition to the series of events and the assassins lack of understanding toward Garou's led to this point.

In fact, Garou had no planning for killing, he was at most going to give them a thorough beating, especially Najenda, and that would be it. Garou destroyed Susanoo because he considered something similar to a robot, similar to Seryu's pet, so he had no problem destroying it. As for Sai, the man committed suicide in the hope of injuring Garou. He failed but still got Garou's respect for the courage and determination he showed, but also made Garou despise the revolutionary even more. Finally, Gato, he died because of the pink bitch last shot, the assassins murdered their own comrade in the hope of killing Garou. Garou could understand why they acted like that, but he still felt disgusted after all the talk and courageous words they spoke. They made themselves look like they live and die together for their goal, only to kill their own. So his last attack aimed to cripple the pink bitch and injured the hypocrite bitch in one go.

Garou turned around and began walking toward the direction, where Wave and the others went to. A few minutes later, he saw Bols running toward him.

"Garou! You are fine, When I saw the explosion, I knew I messed up by leaving my Teigu there. " Bols spoke frantically.

Garou felt something was wrong, but he couldn't determine what it was. He replied "Why are you here? Where is the rest?"

Bols replied "I was afraid it might have hurt you or even worse. I couldn't stop myself from coming and check on you. As for the rest, they are tired and a little wounded but nothing dangerous. They should be fine. But still, I'm glad you are okay"

"Did you think your little toy exploding can hurt me?" Garou asked, seemingly offended.

"OH! NO! NOI I knew you could survive it hahaha... With your speed, finding rocks or create a pit or a cave to avoid the flames won't be hard for you." Bols said while waving his hands nervously.

At this moment, Garou was sure something is wrong with Bols. The man spared with Garou previously, and he knows how heat resistant Garou is. Garou had no need to hide, let alone digging a hole like a rat. Garou let it pass for now, as maybe the man thought the destructive power of the flame increased. In a way, it was true, the flames were hotter than the usual ones.

"What about Nightraid? Did you manage to take them down?" Bols asked.

"Nope they escaped, but 2 of them died in the process " Garou answered not counting Susanoo as a member.

"I see that's unfortunate, but thanks to you, we managed to survive" Bols said.

Garou's eyes narrowed dangerously. Bol's muscles relaxed a little when he said the escaped then flinched a little when he heard two died. It might be very minute change, but how sharp is Garou observation? At this moment, he knew the one before him is not Bols but an imposter. In his old world, shapeshifters were not common but still no that rare. Monsters, animals and even robots who can blend in the environment or change their looks to be the exact of others all existed. So there was no reason for him to think this world has none of that kind.

Without saying any words, Garou punched Bols in the face knocking him down mercilessly. Bol's body turned into smoke and an orange-haired girl laid in its place. The girl's stared with horror at Garou, her broken nose was leaking blood.

Garou observed her, he noticed a makeup box is attached to her side, Garou determined that it was her Teigu or at least the tool used to shapeshift. After all, who would bring makeup to battles? Garou didn't bother to speak anything, he looked calmly at the girl as he raised his leg and stomped down.

The girl closed her eyes when she saw him raising his leg, she gave up on life there, she knew she had no hope of escaping from him. All of her teammates failed to beat him and had to flee to keep their lives, and even two died in the process. What could she alone do? She regretted her decision to get close to him. She thought he would lower his guard around her because he just won a battle against multiple opponents.

A moment later, she heard the sound of something breaking but felt no pain. She opened her eyes, she saw Garou's leg on top of her teigu. It was destroyed beyond hope of repair. She shivered realising he was not going to kill her directly, she couldn't stop herself from thinking about the grim fate awaiting her. She stared at Garou who looked back at her, then started to walk again, passing her without doing anything.

Chelsea blinked not understanding why he ignored her. She thought he wants to toy with her, to give her a false hope then to crush it. She gathered her strength and stood up, her back to him. She turned around and stared at his retreating back and spoke "Drop the act! I won't run and satisfy your desire to see me broken. I prefer to die with dignity."

Garou stopped and looked back at her with a frown. She spoke again "I saw people like you, you let your target run away, and when they think they are safe you appear before them and crush their hopes of survival"

"You are weak and don't have a weapon, I have no reason to fight or kill you," Garou said.

"As if I will believe you!" Chelsea said as she brought her needles out.

Garou ignored her and continued walking away, while she stood there refusing to believe he let her go just like that. Chelsea stood in the same place for hours before she left, not believing what happened, she even thought he was tracking her secretly.

Garou continued moving in the same direction from earlier, and after a few minutes, he heard Dr Stylish voice.

"That fucking horned bastard, I will fucking kill him" Dr Stylish said

"Please Dr, let me treat you first" Wave spoke with hopelessness in his voice.

"Oh, how considerate of you, dear" Dr Stylish voice sounded again, but this time it was calm and loving. Garou frowned at this, this man reminded him of the prisoner S-class hero too much.

Garou walked closer to them and spoke "They should have cut your tongue instead of your arms, maybe dig your eyes as well"

Wave and the rest looked at him with shock, then their faces turned into smiles.

"You are back! HAHAAHA... I knew you will win. Tell me, how did it go?" Wave said excitedly.

"Tell me you thrashed the horned brute" Dr Stylish said venomously.

"You are quite talkative for a defeated group" Garou replied.

"It doesn't count! They ganged on us" Wave protested, but Garou's glare shut him up.

"Coming here was a waste of time, they were too weak. I should beat Esdeath when I see her next time. She said they were strong and dangerous" Garou spoke again.

The four resisted rolling their eyes at his words, the assassins were not weak, he was abnormally strong. But none of them dared to voice their thoughts. Also, knowing their general, Esdeath would be more than glad to take Garou on at any time. Sometimes, they even thought she might be a masochist secretly. Her readiness to fight... Get beaten by Garou is genuinely astonishing.

* * *

Hours later, Garou and the rest met with Esdeath and her team in the city as it was agreed previously.

"I see... It is good no one of you died" Esdeath said then turned to Garou and continued with smile"As much I'm thankful that you saved my subordinates, I'm not happy with the fact you left me like that. you were really heartless there."

"And I feel like to break your legs. The assassins turned out to be a waste of time." Garou replied.

"I think they are fine, it is just you inhumanly strong." Esdeath replied honestly.

"They are weak with unrefined skills" Garou repeated.

"Putting that aside, how come you didn't catch them or kill them? I don't believe they can outrun you" Esdeath asked.

"Why would I catch them? I defeated them then they ran like a group of beaten dogs. If you don't remember, I came only to fight them, as for killing or catching them, it has nothing to do with me" Garou explained.

"That's a shame ..." Esdeath sighed before continuing "I was looking for a torture session with you. I wanted to show you my skills in that field"

"Torture session?" Garou asked.

Esdeath nodded with a smile "Yeah. I was planning to put the ones we caught in the dungeon and torture them until they break!"

"I'm interested. You can get information from your enemies away from me" Garou said with a frown.

"Who cares about information! Watching the weak break is quite enjoyable" Esdeath said.

Garou's frown increased "You torture others for fun?"

"Yes" Esdeath said.

Garou despised the idea of torturing others for fun, he can understand enemies being cruel against each other, it is a war after all. But torturing people for the sake of fun, this is something below Garou's morals code.

Esdeath noticed the look of disgust in Garou's eyes, she was confused by it. So she asked "What is wrong? You don't like the idea of torturing others?"

"I might be cruel, but I won't go as torturing for no reason" Garou replied.

"Why? It is only natural for the strong to dominate the weak" Esdeath spoke resolutely.

"Have you ever heard a lion attacking a cat? The lion would never do it unless the cat annoyed it. It is because he is stronger. The strong attack and even kill the weak when need it. A powerful person won't seek weaklings for fun! Only the weaklings will go after those who are weaker than them." Garou spoke back.

Esdeath was silent, she thought about his words as she remembered her tribe destruction. She lived her entire life with the mentality of the strong crushes the weak. She always believed in it and shaped her life on this very idea. She never thought of herself being wrong, after all, she was the strongest, and her words held true for so long. But now, Garou stood before her and said something different from her beliefs. If it were someone else, she would disregard it as the weak trying to defend himself or those like him. But Garou was someone stronger than her, he was on a whole different level. Even though she wanted to support her point, she knew Garou the very logic behind it is broken by the very existence of Garou.

Esdeath closed her eyes and pondered more, she remembered Garou protecting the kids and teaching them, she was too focused on him, so she didn't pay attention to them. Thinking about everything so far, she felt she finally began to truly understand Garou.

Esdeath opened her eyes and looked straight in Garou's eyes and said "I always believed that what I'm doing is the natural thing. Nothing wrong about the strong crushes the weak. My very belief is built on the fact that I was the strongest and those who I knew were also merciless toward the weak. The weak helps the weak and defend them because they feel someone out there stronger and can threat them. But you are an exception, you are strong, cruel and merciless, yet you don't find joy in what I deemed natural. I would like to think about this more on my own"

Esdeath turned around and left Garou and the stunned Jaegers. Garou also turned around and started walking away, his displeasure toward Esdeath disappeared for some reason when she looked at him and spoke. He felt something in her changed.

"Was that really our scary sadistic general?" Wave asked while staring at Esdeath back. No one of his teammates replied they were too stunned seeing the change.

* * *

Author notes:

I know Esdeath in the original was cruel and refused to change no matter what she was told or saw. Her philosophy is the result of the accumulation of her father words and years of living among cruel people. Hearing about her wrongdoings and what is right naturally won't work as her mentality build on the fact words with no strength to back them are meaningless.

So I believe hearing it from Garou who is far stronger than her has far more weight on her mentality than hearing from someone like Tatsumi, she deemed far weaker than her.

I wanted to explain this point since I know many will disagree with me and say I changed Esdeath personality.


	36. What The

What The ...

The next day, Garou stood at one of the city's gate with Rin and Wave.

"Why don't you stay with us? We can all go back to the capital together" Wave said to Garou.

"No reason for me to stay here, I tagged along in the first place to see the so-called assassins. Now that I saw how pathetic they were, I have no reason to stay" Garou replied.

"What about taking a horse?" Rin offered

"Nah, I prefer using my legs. It's much faster and more reliable. Also it can be a good warmup" Garou said

Wave and Rin looked at each other, they could see the weird look in each other's eyes. Garou probably was the only person to say his legs much faster reliable than a horse and to think the long distance to the capital is a good warmup.

Garou saw their reactions and ignored it, he didn't care what they thought of him. He turned around while saying "See you!"

"Bye, have a safe journey" Rin/Wave said

Garou started running toward the capital, his body became a dot in the distance in mere moments.

"Dammit, he is really too fast. No wonder he caught with us yesterday" Wave said while Rin nodded.

"By the way, did you feel he was less volatile than usual?" Wave asked.

"I think it's because the general is not here. She is the main reason he get pissed off most of the time." Rin replied

Wave nodded and said "Speaking of her, is she still in her room?"

"Yeah, she didn't leave since yesterday" Rin answered.

Wave nodded then stiffened for a moment before speaking "Hey Rin, The commander won't punish us for not telling her about Garou's leaving, right?"

It was Rin turn to stiff, he looked at Wave silently before speaking seriously, "We should start praying. Hopefully, we will go to heaven."

Wave started to panic as tears welling in his eyes, Rin looked at Wave with a sly smile. Their general might get a little angry, but most probably won't punish them. He knew that but still wanted to prank Wave.

Wave started praying, while Rin looked at the sky. He mumbled to himself, "The cloud getting dark, I guess it is going to start raining soon. Maybe we should have let him stay for a little more… Nah, he will be fine."

* * *

In the middle of the mountains, Akame was walking alone. She was heading to the revolutionary army headquarter on behave of Najenda. Since Najenda was wounded, she couldn't go there to report the events of the battle and how Garou ruined her plans. Najenda couldn't trust using birds as they are easy to interrupt. Moreover, it would be better to explain such a massive failure in person. Therefore, she sent Akame and ordered her to walk through the mountains. She didn't want to risk Akame getting tracked by the empire spies, or worse, getting attacked by the Jaegers.

Akame left Nighraid temporary base at sunrise. The distance to the headquarter is quite far, and she couldn't use a horse since it couldn't cross the mountain road. However, she didn't mind the long-distance or the hardships, she was more concerned and depressed after yesterday's events. Four of her teammates that she met recently and started to friend them died yesterday, her boss and Lubbock were injured, while Mine was crippled. She felt more depressed as she remembered Mine, her pink-haired friend, who was the loudest among them, was silent, her eyes devoid of any hope, the loss of her arm and weapon broke her. Moreover, Chelsea didn't come back, no one brought this matter up, but deep inside they felt they will never see her again.

Suddenly, she felt a cold sensation on her cheek, she looked up and saw the sky turned dark and about to rain. She was too depressed and thinking about what happened that she didn't realise the incoming storm. Akame sighed in a depressed manner and started looking for a place to rest until the rain stop.

"Heh... You again" a familiar voice came from behind her, the volume was not loud nor low, it was normal. But to Akame, it had more effect more than roaring thunder. Akame's entire body stiffened as she turned slowly around and looked at the man. The one-man she didn't want to meet the most stood there before her, staring at her with his sharp eyes.

"I didn't expect to see you again this fast" Garou spoke again.

"Why are you here? Were you following me?" Akame asked as calmly as she could, but her mind was racing thinking of why he was here? When did he start following her? And did he know where her friends are?

clueless of her thoughts, Garou replied "You are overestimating your importance, I'm going back to the capital, and this is the shortest road."

Akame internally sighed, her friends were safe for now, but she still cursed her luck. Of all people in the world, she had to run into this one by chance. Akame unsheathed her katana and steeled her eyes. She would rather die than surrender to this monster.

Garou raised a brow and said "You want to fight? Didn't you learn your lesson?"

Akame tightened her grip as she remembered how her friends died and suffered because of him. She knew she stood no chance against him, but she was going to take him down along with her, she only needed a single cut.

She took a deep breath then pointed the blade of her katana at her neck, she looked up with determination at the confused Garou, who didn't know what she up to and sliced her neck. Garou watched in confusion, his first thought was another assassin committing suicide, it didn't take long to realise that he was mistaken.

Akame dropped on her knees and used the blade to support her body from falling as she screamed. Black smoke started surrounding her as her voice began to change, red markings appeared all over her body as she calmed down. Akame stood up and look at Garou with demonic like eyes shocking him slightly.

Garou looked silently at Akame as he observed the changes, the feeling she was giving off, the changes in her body and eyes, they were too similar to how people changed into monsters back in his world, it was also like when he started transforming.

"Are you still human?" Garou asked. This world and his had many similarities and much more differences. If Akame really became a monster, then the possibility of other monsters present here can't be ignored.

"This is my Tiegu trump card. By accepting my sins and embrace them, I cast away my humanity." Akame replied.

"So your blade can turn people into monsters, Interesting." Garou smirked at her.

The two stared at each other as the sky started raining heavily on top of them. Akame took her stance preparing for the battle, while Garou kept his relax posture. Akame narrowed her eyes, and to Garou's surprise, in an instant, she was in front of him with her blade moving toward his throat.

Garou was shocked by the speed, her speed was slightly below his. Although he was shocked by her speed, he still easily deflected the sword away. However, Akame was not done yet, the moment Garou deflected her blade, she immediately kicked with her leg. But Garou blocked it and sent a punch of his own, which she dodged.

The two separated from each other, Akame retook her stance while Garou took his this time. Garou was smiling, Akame display was beyond his expectation, he had no doubt the current Akame is stronger than Esdeath.

Akame didn't attack him head-on again, but she started running around him at full speed then attempted to slash him his blind spots. Garou countered every attack from Akame, as he continued to analyse Akame.

She was nearly as fast as him when moving in lines. Still, during the close combat, her speed drops significantly, probably because of the sudden increase of her strength and speed, she needs time to get used to it.

Regardless of that, she was still putting a fight better than Esdeath, which impressed him. He kept defending without taking the initiative to attack, he was waiting for Akame to get used to her new physical capabilities before fighting back.

Moments later, Akame made distance from him again and stared silently at him. Deep inside, she was getting depressed, her trump card gave her a huge boost, but she was still not able to touch him. In addition, with every passing moment, she gets more used to it and becomes slightly faster and stronger, but it was still not enough to make him break a sweat.

"Not bad, I hope you still have more to show me" Garou smirked arrogantly.

Akame bit her libs as she raised her sword and took a new stance, similar to samurais, her sword pointed to the sky as she took a step forward slowly. She was planning to put all of her strength and speed in a single slash hoping Garou's arrogance will make him try to block the strike. As long as she managed to push a single scratch, then it would be worth it, even if she died here.

Naturally, Garou took his stance intending to deflect it. Back in his world, he managed to deflect the S-class hero, Metal-Bat, what of her? He was confident in deflecting the blade.

Akame took a breath hoping it won't be her last as her eyes narrowed, while Garou smirk widened in anticipation. Suddenly, The sky filled with light and thunder roared in the mountains. The next moment, Garou face changed to a shocked one. He relaxed his stance and stood straight looking dumbly at the sky.

In front of him, Akame was lying on the ground, her body had thin lines of black smoke coming out. When she pointed her sword to the sky, she attracted lightning. In the end, Garou didn't land a single hit on her, but he still won.

" WHAT THE ..." All he could say as he stared at the dark clouds.


	37. Why?

Why?

Author note:  
In canon, Garou never demonstrated any substantial knowledge of medicine, and I'm doubtful that he does. But Bang and the entire dojo is based on traditional martial arts ideals. As far as I know, they should know the basics of treating simple wounds via simplistic herbal medicine. (a myth I always read about and too lazy to clarify).

It may or may not be true but for the sake of continuity, ignore it. It won't happen again.  
Enjoy :)

* * *

"Uggg..." Akame opened her eyes, her body entire body burned with pain. In addition, her body felt heavy, significantly more than usual. She used all of her strength to sit, then checked her surroundings. She was inside a cave, the last thing she remembered meeting Garou and using her trump card to fight him. She looked down at her arm and noticed leaves covering them like bandages. The red markings from the transformation were still visible on her body but noticeably faded.

Akame saw her sword a short distance away away leaned up against the cave's wall, she wanted to grab it, but the pain immobilized her.

"You are finally awake" Garou's voice drifted from the cave entrance.

Akame forgot the pain in her body and looked. In shock toward him. He stood before her while carrying a huge fish on his shoulder. Akame eyes darted toward her sword, she attempted to make a move for it. Despite her will, her body fell tiredly as she winced in pain.

"You are still wounded, I don't suggest you moving around, let alone try to fight" Garou said.

Akame looked hopelessly at Garou, she understood she had no chance to escape or fight back. She was entirely at the mercy of this… monster standing before her. Suicide crossed her mind, but for some reason, she couldn't get herself to do it.

"I treated your wounds, It is not perfect and maybe it will leave a mark, but it will ease the pain a little and help you recover faster. I'm no doctor, but I can tell when someone is incapable of moving because of injuries. I have first-hand experience aftertall." Garou said.

Akame stared at silently. She watched him getting closer to her, she was helpless and unable to even move. he dropped his fish on the ground next to him. He started a fire using stones and broken branches inside the cave. Akame assumed he gathered them earlier while she was still unconscious. Garou began to grill the fish while Akame kept staring at him in bewilderment.

Sometime later, Garou gave Akame some of the grilled fish then he proceeded to eat his share. Akame's eyes darted between the lump of meat in front of her and Garou, who was wolfing the meat.

"What are you doing?" Akame finally asked.

"Helping you to recover faster" Garou gave her a bored look, his eyes showed her a look of disdain as if it were obvious.

"Why are you helping me? If you want information about my friends, then kill me. I won't tell you no matter what you do, even if you torture me" Akame said, doubting Garou's motivation. In her eyes, a monster like him is no better than Esdeath.

Garou ignored her question and said "I didn't take you to be the talkative type. You should shut it and focus on eating."

Akame was not satisfied with his reply, but she could do nothing, for now, she was weak and barely able to move. Hopefully, she would recover and get a chance to kill him, she didn't want to give up.

Akame ate her food silently, but she devoured food as fast as Garou. She was fast enough that he was impressed more by her appetite than her combat ability.

Once the two were done, Akame spoke again "Why are you helping me?"

"Two reasons; first, I didn't defeat you, and if I left you to die like that it will leave a bad taste in my mouth; Second, I told your sister I would leave you to her. Therefore, I'm not letting you die, at least not because of me" Garou finally answered, he decided answering her would save him the unnecessary nuisance.

Unfortunately, his answer agitated Akame more, she believed he was a monster with no honour because of his similarity to Esdeath. Besides, she labelled those who work under the minister as evil, such as Esdeath and Seryu.

"Do you expect me to believe that? After what you did? After killing my friends? Acting as if you have honour and pride! You are a scum! A lowly filthy animal" Akame exploded back. Usually, she wouldn't talk to her enemy like this, but she was still affected by her friends' deaths. Moreover, she didn't have the strength to do anything more than talking. She might as well be killed while insulting him, this is the least she could do.

Garou initially didn't want to talk with her much, but hearing her, he was a little irritated. Garou narrowed his eyes and said "Don't put your mistakes on me, I didn't kill your friends. The water guy went kamikaze, while the axe guy was killed by your pink-haired friend. If anything, I took revenge for him. I was only going to give you fools a beating, but you idiots decided to start killing yourselves"

Akame didn't back down, she replied "Do you expect me I would believe you? You killed Susanoo!"

"Susanoo? The horned doll? Are you an idiot? If I broke your sword, would you say I killed it? No, you won't. So what about a human-shaped doll." Garou replied.

Akame got angrier hearing him call Susanoo a doll, she clenched her fists hard, She wanted nothing more than killing the monster in front of her.

"Besides, If I wanted to kill you, do you really believe I would allow you to leave. For starters, I could have embedded the axe into that bitch's head instead of her chest" Garou added.

Akame stared into his cold red eyes but found no trace of deception. She was still in disbelief, so she asked again "Then why did you join the Jaegers in hunting us?"

"I didn't join them, I tagged along to see what kind of interesting weapons your group has. I don't care about your war and catching you isn't my problem" Garou shrugged.

"Then why are you training with them?" Akame asked another question.

"Who else would I be able to spar against" Garou answered.

Akame became silent, she thought about all the previous encounters with Garou, what she knew about him and finally what he just said. Assuming he was being truthful, didn't that mean he wasn't really their mortal enemy? They just fought and died for no reason, the man himself didn't intend to kill them or capture them.

She stared at him, then she remembered Chelsea, so she asked "A friend of ours went missing yesterday after the battle. She's around my age and has orange hair"

"Oh, the one with shape-shifting makeup box. I met her yesterday" Garou said.

Akame tensed hearing him, she asked with a worried tone "What happened to her? Where is she?"

"Beats me, I left her near the battle location after I crushed the stupid box. No clue where she went after that" Garou answered with no care.

Akame was slightly relieved that Chelsea was okay. But then a stronger depression hit her. Was everything they have done and the lives lost for nothing. There was no need for anyone to die, the entire battle was meaningless.

Akame lowered her head and kept her silence, not knowing what to do or think. She hated him, she wanted to kill him, but she felt a greater despair of being unable to do a thing against him, despair of knowing he didn't care about them from the very beginning and their own mistakes led to the death of their friends, they even killed one of their own.

Garou watched her fell into a state of silence, so he didn't bother to talk with her again. He started meditating to pass the time, he believed she won't take too long to recover, her injuries weren't severe in the first place.

After a while of silence, Akame raised her head and looked at Garou, she saw him mediating not paying her any attention. She turned and looked at her sword. The first thing that came to her mind is to kill him here, but she immediately shook her head. She looked at him again and spoke "Garou, you aren't on the empire's side, right?"

Garou opened his eyes and looked at her, he spoke plainly "yes."

"Why don't you join us? You can put your strength into a greater cause" she said. If he wasn't with the empire, then maybe She had a chance to convince him of joining them.

"I have no interest in joining your stupid group" Garou replied.

Akame clenched her fist and asked "Why? Don't you feel this world is wrong? People suffer because of the minister and his people. The empire became corrupted to its very core. You are strong, too strong. You can bring change, you can make the world a better place!"

Garou looked at her, he considered her words then spoke "Kurome told me you betrayed her and joined the enemy, why?"

Akame couldn't help but show a sad expression, she looked down and said "When I realised the evil hidden in the empire, I decided to leave it for good. I tried to get her to leave with me, but I couldn't, she ..."

"So you left because the empire was filled with evil. What did they make you do?" Garou inquired interrupting her.

"They lied to me, they told me I was cleansing evil, but it turned out I was killing innocents for their benefits" Akame answered.

"So at some point, you realised things weren't as they seemed and so you decided to leave" Garou said, as Akame nodded.

"Then tell me, What are you doing with the revolutionary army?" Garou asked.

"I'm assassinating corrupt and evil officials to weaken the empire's forces" Akame answered.

"So you are doing the same job for the same reason, but the employer changed" Garou said.

"No, this time I'm fighting against the corrupt and evil" Akame argued.

"Who told you they are evil? All I see is the same pattern repeating itself, and you are nothing but a tool in the hand of someone else" Garou replied.

Akame felt anger rising in her heart as she heard Garou's words, she wanted to refute his words, but he continued "Let's say you killed the evil officials, didn't you kill innocent guards? Didn't innocent servants suffer because of you killing their masters? What about the families of those people? Your so-called 'slaying evil' brought misery for many. You said you are fighting against the minister and his people, then why are declaring war against the entire empire? If you genuinely wanted to end his evil reign, you could attempt to kill him, not start a civil war, which will hurt far more people than if you simply left the minister do his bidding? Finally, if you had an army, how are you sustaining it? I'm not knowledgeable about armies and wars, but I know massive army needs food and supplies to survive. If the people are sick and suffering as you say, where do they get money from?"

He asked a question after question, none of which she had an answer for. She had never asked nor considered any of those things. She remained silent, not knowing what to say. Garou waited a little then continued coldly "You don't know how your own army survives, and I bet your friends are no better. That's why you are nothing but tools, following orders without question."

Akame hearing him say that angered her, but she couldn't refute him, she didn't know how to. She clenched her fists as hard as she could as she maintained her silence. She knew he was right. Garou didn't speak any further.

Edited by B33RUS.


End file.
